Twitter may be asked to go ‘silent’ 48 hours before polls

Parliamentary Panel tells microblogging site to engage more with EC

As the country gets ready for the general elections and as the misuse of social media to influence the voting pattern weighs heavy, the government is leaving no stone unturned to ensure fair elections.

The possibility of Twitter being directed to follow the Election Commission of India (ECI) guidelines for 48 hours — the so-called ‘silent period’ — in areas where polls are to be conducted was raised during the meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology headed by Member of Parliament Anurag Thakur.

At the meeting that lasted for more than three hours, Twitter was represented by its Global Vice-President of Public Policy, Colin Crowell, and other senior officials. Thakur read out a letter addressed to him by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.