Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Archana Patnaik has announced a complete ban on social media content that misrepresents a person’s identity, voice or appearance without consent and could mislead voters.
In a statement, she said political parties and candidates must obtain a pre-certification certificate from the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee at the state or district level before publishing political advertisements on electronic and social media. Applications must be submitted at least three days in advance.
She also directed that all videos created using artificial intelligence or digitally altered must carry clear labels such as “AI-generated”, “digitally enhanced” or “synthetic content”.
If such false or illegal videos are found on political parties’ social media pages, action will be taken to remove them within three hours, the statement said.
Separately, the Election Commission said the annual honorarium for polling station officers in Tamil Nadu has been increased from Rs 6,000 to Rs 12,000, with an additional Rs 2,000 special incentive for SIR work. It also said polling booths have been set up in 14 high-rise apartment and housing association premises across the state, including five in Chennai.
