Political advertising: New social media code

Only verifiable Indians can post political ads; have to pay in national currency

Only Indian nationals will be allowed to post political advertisements on social media, during the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Bombay High Court was informed on Monday.

This clarification came after social media giants, mainly, Facebook and Google, introduced new rules to regulate political advertisements and leave no room for foreign intervention during the elections.

A division bench of Chief Justice Naresh Patil and Justice Nitin Jamdar was further informed by Facebook such advertisements would only be carried after the advertiser had submitted his identification documents and paid in Indian currency.

Appearing for Facebook, senior counsel Darius Khambata said the new policy included an authorisation process for the person who wanted to put up a political advertisement.

"As per our new policy, such ads will have a disclaimer and also a disclosure, spelling out the name of the person who has paid for the advertisement. Such persons will have to furnish their identity cards, like an Indian passport, PAN card, driving licence or a voter identity card," Khambata said.

"The advertisements will be put up only after such persons have given their detailed address in India and the same has to be verified. Further, such persons will have to pay only in Indian currency," Khambata added.

The Facebook counsel further informed the bench that the new rules would be enforced from February 21. "The new policy is similar to the rules which were introduced in United States, France and Brazil, last year," Khambata highlighted.

Similar submissions were advanced by senior counsel Iqbal Chagla, who appeared for Google.

"We have already introduced our new rules from February 14, which include a verification and authorisation process. We will only run advertisements which are pre-certified by the Election Commission of India," Chagla submitted. Having considered the submissions, the bench led by CJ Patil sought to know from the ECI counsel, if the proposed rules fit the parameters of the commission. Since the ECI counsel could not make such a statement, the bench directed it to file an affidavit by next week.

The bench has also directed Twitter to file its reply to the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by advocate Sagar Suryavanshi, which has sought a complete ban on the dissemination of paid political content or advertisements, just 48 hours before the elections.

In this regard, the Facebook and Google have expressed their inability to regulate dissemination of such content, citing the uneven dates of elections. The social media outlets said since elections in India are scheduled on different dates in various areas, regulating such content will be difficult. They, however, assured the bench that any advertisement, which would be found flouting norms, would be immediately pulled down.