The Election Commission is keeping a much closer watch on AI and social media before the 2026 state elections. Illegal posts now need to be removed within three hours of being flagged. Since March 15th, over 11,000 posts that broke the rules have been dealt with, and 310,393 total complaints were resolved with the help of the C-Vigil system.
New rules for AI and synthetic campaign content
Any campaign material that is completely made by a computer or has been changed by AI needs a clear label. That label should say ‘AI-Generated,’ ‘Digitally Enhanced,’ or ‘Synthetic Content,’ and it also needs to say who originally made it. All of this is to make sure voters know what is real.
These rules are designed to keep voters confident in the election and to stop people from being tricked. Political parties, the people running for office, and their support teams are completely responsible for following these rules. The rules are a response to increasing worries about “deepfakes” and AI programs that can alter pictures, recordings, or videos to mislead people during the important time around an election.
Three-hour takedown rule and enforcement mechanism
Politicians must remove illegal or inappropriate things posted on social media within three hours of learning about them. The Election Commission says if they don’t, they can be punished under the current laws and the authorities in charge of enforcing the rules can take action.
In Assam, Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry, the people in each state who are in charge of IT are actively looking at content according to the Information Technology Act. They are looking for posts that could break the Model Code of Conduct, cause problems for the public, or create incorrect stories and dealing with them.
Scale of monitoring and C-Vigil performance
The Election Commission has addressed over 11,000 social media posts that violated the rules since March 15th. They also say that 310,393 complaints were received and handled through the C-Vigil app, which shows that a lot of citizens are involved and the rules are being enforced during the campaign.
The Commission says 96.01% of the complaints that went through C-Vigil were taken care of in just 100 minutes. This quick response is meant to stop harmful content from spreading and to improve people’s belief in the system that is watching the election.
Silence period and legal provisions ahead of voting and counting
The Election Commission wants to be clear that campaign material created by computers must also follow the 48 hour ‘silence period’ before people vote. Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act of 1951 says you can’t display any election information in the area around a polling place during those final 48 hours to stop anyone from trying to influence voters at the last minute.
The Model Code of Conduct has been in effect in these five states and Puducherry since March 15th when the election dates were announced. Assam, Puducherry, and Kerala voted on April 9th. Tamil Nadu will vote on April 23rd, and West Bengal will vote on April 23rd and 29th. The votes will be counted on May 4th.
How citizens and stakeholders can report violations
People, political parties, and candidates can make complaints using the C-Vigil section of ECINET. This system is designed to make reporting easy and to give people in charge of the rules quick and useful information about possible problems with the Model Code of Conduct.
The Commission describes these actions as finding a balance between people’s right to say what they think and keeping the election fair. By combining laws, monitoring in each state, and reports from citizens, the authorities want to reduce incorrect information, make sure AI content is labeled, and make sure the election goes smoothly in all of the states and Puducherry.
