Bihar polls: EC directs pre-certification of political ads; candidates to declare social media accounts

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has asked all registered national and state political parties, and contesting candidates, to obtain pre-certification for all political advertisements on electronic and social media from the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) before publication.

These directions were issued to political parties on October 9 in the context of the upcoming Bihar assembly elections and byelections on eight seats in six states and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

MCMCs have been constituted at the district and state levels for pre-certification of political advertisements as per the prescribed guidelines, the ECI order said.

The ECI has made it clear that no political advertisement may be released on any internet-based media, including social