Why can't social media platforms block or label fakes, asks CEC Rajiv Kumar

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Friday lamented that social media platforms were not blocking or at least labelling easily detectable fakes and leaving it to poll bodies to engage fact checkers to rescue themselves. 

"Business interest appears to be at work here. It is like first spreading the disease and then selling medicines. The casualty is a fair election process and purity of democracy," he said. 

Delivering his valedictory speech on the conclusion of an international conference of election management bodies here, Kumar said social media companies need to introspect before it is "too late". 

"Let the social media platforms, which have been instrumental in providing a critical space for free expression, especially to voices not heard, not be clouded by the shadows of fake, unverified and misleading narratives, disruptive by design," he said. 

The CEC was of the view that it is in the interest of social media platforms that fake clutter is detected and blocked before it is too late. "Do not help forces disrupting democracies and thereby freedom of speech, which is the basic tenet of intermediaries as well," he cautioned. 

He said election management bodies must devise and adopt a framework to manage these challenges. 

As technologies evolve, Kumar noted, artificial intelligence (AI) will play a critical role. AI can help poll bodies refine voter rolls, detect irregularities, and manage polling logistics more effectively, he said. 

"It can help in optimising resource allocation and fostering greater efficiency. However, these advancements come with challenges that demand vigilance, particularly as we strive to balance innovation with inclusivity, facts with fake," he pointed out.