Twitter Launches New Initiatives to Tackle Misinformation Ahead of Assembly Elections in India

The new initiatives on Twitter will be in six languages — English, Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Assamese, and Malayalam.

By ANI | Updated: 15 March 2021 18:26 IST

Highlights

Twitter has introduced a new search prompt for election-related topics
It has also introduced measures to tackle misinformation about elections
There's also a video series that puts the spotlight on women in politics

Twitter initiatives include a youth discussion series #DemocracyAdda aimed at voter literacy

Twitter on Monday announced a series of initiatives that it says focuses on encouraging informed healthy conversations between candidates, political parties, citizens, media, and society. The initiatives include an information search prompt with the Election Commission of India and state election commissions to make it easier for users to find credible information about candidate lists, voting dates, polling booths, and EVM voter registration among other election-related topics.

West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry are scheduled to go to polls in 2021.

The second initiative is a custom emoji to encourage participation to stimulate participation in election-related discussions and is available now until May 10. Next is a series of pre-bunks and de-bunks to tackle election-related misinformation on Twitter and will appear on people's home timelines and in Search, including information about how to register to vote and details on EVMs and VVPATs. Additionally, the service will focus on de-bunking critical issues as they arise with a curated Twitter Moment.

BolSubol Mobile App to Show Poll Statistics, Economic Data

Another initiative is a youth discussion series titled #DemocracyAdda aimed at voter literacy and civic participation among young Indians for upcoming assembly elections in 2021.

All of these will be activated in six languages — English, Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Assamese, and Malayalam in order to cater to audiences across India.

Additionally, to put a spotlight on women in Indian politics, the service will be bringing back #HerPoliticalJourney, a video series where women political leaders talk about their personal stories with leading women news journalists.

"Public conversation is critical during elections and twitter is where this unfolds. With digital penetration accelerating in India more people now have access to credible, authoritative, and timely information — crucial tools for exercising their civic rights," said Payal Kamat, Manager of Public Policy and Government at Twitter India.

"By leveraging the power of open internet, we are encouraging people across India to be a part of the assembly elections 2021 conversation," she added.

Does WhatsApp's new privacy policy spell the end for your privacy? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.