(UTV|COLOMBO) – Election Monitoring bodies have decided to commence monitoring of social media pages maintained by election candidates.
Executive Director of the Peoples Action for Free and Fair Elections Rohana Hettiarachchi said the initiative will commence following the submission of nominations.
The objective of the move seeks to prevent hate speech and fake news.
Hettiarachchi said the support of the Election Commission and Facebook will also be obtained for the effort.
He said accordingly any questionable posts will therefore be taken down.
He said this initiative was launched following the previous Presidential election, adding as of now social media has a major impact on the electoral process.
He noted therefore PAFFREL has taken steps to observe candidates pages and other popular social media pages during this run up to the election.
He said the monitoring body intends to forward observations on cases of false information, hate speech and fake news, which has a direct impact on the election, to the Election Commission as as carried out during the Presidential election on a daily basis as well.
Hettiarachchi said as of now Facebook has agreed to cooperate in order to take down any misinformation with regard to the election, adding therefore as soon as nominations are handed over the monitoring process will commence.