Twitter is introducing its Ads Transparency Centre to India ahead of the 2019 General Elections in the country. This will be in the form of a new advertising dashboard that provides a glimpse of expenditures incurred by political parties on the social media platform.
This attempt at infusing transparency so that the public knows which party spent how much on Twitter, was implemented in the US, on June 28, 2018, during the last elections, in response to the threat of regulation over lack of disclosure of spending activities of political candidates on federal campaign election ads. Twitter tested election labels on some candidates, wherein clicking on these would provide the users with additional information about the candidate, furnished by a third-party.
With the elections just around the corner, the Indian government has issued a stern warning to all social media platforms that strict action will be taken against them, if any attempt via undesirable means, is made to influence the electoral processes in the country.
A proposal has been made to amend the country’s IT rules, to legally mandate social media and messaging application to deploy tools of identification and diligence practices to curb unlawful content. Public feedback is being taken on the draft amendments by the IT ministry before a final decision is made. According to Twitter Global Vice President (Public Policy), Colin Crowell,
“acarefully crafted balance needs to be struck between ensuring safety and security of users and steps that could impact free expression.”
The Ads Transparency Centre will provide information around the advertiser, the content being promoted, the costs of the ads and details about whether the ad is being run country-wide or is focused on a particular geographical area. The underlying belief is that such data can contribute to the overall conversation around how the election is being played out and whether the information being organically disseminated or is being promoted.
According to Mahima Kaul, Director (Public Policy) for Twitter India, the company would procure information in the Indian market, on the candidates from political parties to ensure reliability of sources. Twitter is collaborating with multiple stakeholders, including the national election officials of the Election Commission of India (EC), some civil society organisations and NGOs, around voter education, to ensure transparent advertising by political parties on the platform.
The company has extended its support to the EC as they seek to establish a proactive voice in India’s digital space.Preparatory and training sessions will be conducted regarding the micro-blogging platform’s rules. The election and party official will be taught to use Twitter, verify candidates and report to Twitter, activities that may be abusive, suspicious and violative of the rules. The Ads Transparency Centre will be made available over the next several weeks, once the finer details of the features being offered in India are worked out.
In addition to the Ads policies, all political advertisers will be required to comply with laws applicable to content requirements, disclosures, eligibility restrictions and blackout dates for the locations of advertising. Twitter will ensure that all political parties and candidates have the Election Commission’s certification for advertising purposes. The company is also engaging with them for their verified accounts.
Twitter has also introduced new initiatives ahead of the 2019 General Elections. #ChaupalOnTwitter encourages increased civic discussion and participation between communities and leaders in India. #PowerOf18 aims to encourage the Indian youth to contribute to public debates and participate in civic engagements.
The problem of malicious automation must be countered by machine learning to monitor behaviours of accounts and rapidly identify and flag related issues. Time will show how successfully Twitter’s technological antidote cleanses the real-time menace of mis-information and manipulation that has in the past, influenced electoral results and hampered the democratic process.
India Outbound
January 11, 2019
source https://indiaoutbound.org/2019-general-elections-transparency-on-twitter/
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