Monitoring of content violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), including misinformation, law and order concerns, and misleading narratives, is being carried out in Assam, Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry.
The Election Commission of India Election Commission of India has directed strict adherence to regulatory norms governing social media and AI-generated political content for the upcoming 2026 state assembly elections across five states and Union Territory, requiring that unlawful online content be removed within three hours of being flagged.
According to the poll authority, more than 11,000 social media posts violating election-related guidelines have been taken down since March 15. The Commission also reported that 3,10,393 complaints were addressed through the C-Vigil application, with a 96.01% resolution rate achieved within an average of 100 minutes.
The Commission stated that political parties, candidates, and campaign representatives must ensure that any synthetically generated or AI-edited content used for campaigning is clearly labelled as “AI-Generated”, “Digitally Enhanced”, or “Synthetic Content”. It added that such content must also include disclosure of its originating source to maintain transparency in the electoral process.
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Monitoring of content violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), including misinformation, law and order concerns, and misleading narratives, is being carried out in Assam, Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry. State IT nodal officers, appointed under the Information Technology Act, are overseeing enforcement actions.
The Commission reiterated that synthetic campaign material must comply with labelling requirements and adhere to the 48-hour silence period prior to polling. It also referred to Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which prohibits the display or circulation of election-related content in polling areas during the silence period.
Citizens, political parties, and candidates have been encouraged to report MCC violations through the C-Vigil module on the ECINET platform.
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The Model Code of Conduct has been in force in the five poll-bound regions since March 15, when the election schedule was announced. Voting has already been completed in Assam, Puducherry, and Kerala on April 9. Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are scheduled to vote on April 23 and April 29 respectively, while counting of votes across all regions will take place on May 4.
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