Indians are ready to cast their votes, but misinformation on social media is threatening the outcome of the vote
Polling officers queue to collect the election materials at a distribution centre ahead of the first phase of general elections in Majuli, a large river island in the Brahmaputra river, in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, India, April 10, 2019.
Before the world's largest democracy starts voting on Thursday in a phased election carried out over six weeks, this attitude is posing a problem for election officials seeking to combat the spread of fake news among a population that experts say has proven highly susceptible to believing it. Tackling fake news is a huge challenge in India, a nation with 1.14 billion cellphone connections, the most Facebook users in the world at 300 million, and another 240 million users of the messaging service WhatsApp. In such an environment, fake news can spread faster than regulators can act.
Social media companies followed that with a "Voluntary Code of Ethics" for the elections that they submitted to the government. It's essentially a best practices agreement that they will try to abide by the Election Commission's suggestions and rules, including prohibiting campaign advertisements for at least 48 hours before polling begins.But at least two former Election Commission bosses said they don't believe enough is being done.
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