With the November elections nearing, the Election Commission has announced plans to coordinate with tech giants like Meta, Twitter, and Tiktok in an effort to control the spread of misinformation and hate speech on social media.
Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya, the chief election commissioner said “We are taking a new approach to tackle the spread of misleading information during elections.” He also added, “But this time we are working in a more coordinated manner as we still have over a month to go for the elections. We also have to set up our own press office manned by experts.”
In Nepal, over the past few years, misleading news and videos have spread like wildfire on social media platforms. Experts say misleading social media content can influence voters’ decisions.
According to the EC, they have already reached an agreement with Meta, Twitter, and Whatsapp. Officials from TikTok have also visited the EC in the past month.
Election Commissioner Thapaliya said this initiative against misinformation will help many people who rely solely on social media feeds for news and information.
