Social Media Platforms present Voluntary Code of Ethics
The Social Media Platforms and Internet and Mobile Association of India (“IAMAI”) presented a Voluntary Code of Ethics for the General Election 2019 (“Code of Ethics”) on March 19, 2019 to the Election Commission of India (“ECI”) to ensure free, fair, and ethical usage of social media platforms and to maintain the integrity of the electoral process for the General Elections 2019.
The Code of Ethics has been developed as a follow up to the meetings between the IAMAI and representatives of various social media platforms like Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter, Google, ShareChat, and TikTok etc.
Salient features of the Code of Ethics, among other things, include:
- The social media platforms have committed to process any violations identified by the ECI within three hours.
- The social media platforms have agreed to create a high priority dedicated reporting mechanism for the ECI and to appoint dedicated teams during the period of General Elections for taking expeditious action on any reported violations.
- The social media platforms have agreed to provide a mechanism for political advertisers to submit pre-certified advertisements issued by the media certification and monitoring committee of the ECI.
- The social media platforms have agreed to facilitate transparency in paid political advertisements.
- IAMAI has agreed to coordinate with participants on various steps mentioned in this code. Participants have also committed to voluntarily undertake voter awareness campaigns.
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Social media plays a crucial role in how people receive and interpret news and information in today’s world. Therefore, this Code of Ethics is a welcome move from the social media platforms to ensure that there is a quick and comprehensive check on all nefarious entities partaking in the spread of misinformation.
Writs on Contractual matters maintainable where the State acts arbitrarily: SC
The Supreme Court of India (“SC”), in the case of M/s Surya Constructions v. The State of Uttar Pradesh & Others., passed an order whereby it stated that a contractual dispute a party has with the government or any of its agencies can be brought under the ambit of a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution. The SC, however, put a restriction stating that such cases may be heard only when there is arbitrariness on the part of the state.
The writ petition was filed to seek redressal for the non-payment of dues by Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam (“Nigam”) for extra work done by Surya Constructions, even though the said work was expressly sanctioned by the Nigam and was done to its satisfaction. The Nigam in its reply stated that while they were liable to make the extra payments, but they had no money available to make the payments and that this is a contractual dispute and cannot come under the ambit of a writ petition.
Consequently, the SC rejected the contentions of Nigham and directed it to make the necessary payments to Surya Constructions.
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- The SC through its recent judgment reiterated its prior position with regards to the power of High Courts to intervene in contractual matters pertaining to the state’s obligations as a contractual party in order to ensure that the State does not act contrary to its constitutional or civic obligations.
- As writ petitions take lesser time to resolve as compared to other types of petitions, this ruling of the SC will ensure that disputes between the government and individuals are resolved faster.
- As parties will be tempted to file writ petitions to resolve their disputes rather than following the normal procedure laid down in either the contract they have executed with the government or applicable law, high courts will need to ensure that the writ petitions are strictly inspected before being admitted by the courts. Otherwise, we may see the high courts flooded with such petitions.