The Election Commission on Tuesday asked social media platform X (X) to remove an animated video posted on the Karnataka BJP X page depicting the Congress appeasing Muslims at the expense of Scheduled Castes, Tribes and Other Backward Classes.
The Election Commission’s nodal officer, appointed under the Information Technology Act, 2000, wrote to Site X asking it to remove the record “immediately”. The Election Commission has written a letter stating that the registration “is in violation of the existing legal framework”.
An FIR has already been registered in the matter and the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer wrote to the X site on May 5, ordering the site to remove the “objectionable post”. “However, the registration has not yet been removed,” the EC said in the letter.
The CEO, through the Cybercrime Wing of the Bengaluru Police, wrote to X Site on May 5 asking it to remove the post “as it violates the electoral code of conduct implemented during the Lok Sabha elections 2024”. It cited Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act and Rule 3(1)(d) of the Information Technology (Intermediate Guidelines and Code of Digital Media Ethics) Rules, 2021, which relate to removal of requests by authorized agencies. “Failure to comply will result in legal action,” the cybercrime wing warned.
Polling for the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka took place on Tuesday.
According to sources from the Election Commission, the recording violates the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which defines “malpractices” as including promoting enmity between communities, castes and races. Sources said the Election Commission took serious note of the fact that despite a valid legal demand from the office of the Karnataka Chief Executive Officer, the registration was not de-registered. As reported in The Indian Express on Tuesday, the Karnataka Chief Executive’s office had requested the social media site, but the Election Commission intervened as the post was not removed after four days.
The animated video in the post reads, “Beware…Beware…Beware..!” It was in Kannada with the title. In it, Rahul Gandhi’s character places an egg labeled “Muslims” in a nest containing three smaller eggs labeled “SC”, “ST” and “OBC”. After the eggs hatch, the character “Muslim” continues to feed the chicks with “Treasures”. The chick then grows up and kicks the other chicks out of the nest, and Rahul and Siddaramaiah’s characters laugh.
The post comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the Congress in his campaign speeches accusing it of wanting to give reservation to Muslims at the cost of SCs, STs and OBCs.
