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Ahead of a looming ban on TikTok in the United States, US senators have alleged that the Chinese Communist Party-owned platform has interfered in the elections of various countries, including India. A group of lawmakers has called for extending the deadline to shut it down. Participating in a debate on TikTok, the lawmakers also applauded India's ban on the social media platform which is highly popular among teenagers and youths. As per a law signed by President Joe Biden a year ago, TikTok faces a ban from US app stores unless the Chinese parent company ByteDance Ltd. divests its American arm by Sunday, January 19. TikTok meddles in the politics of other countries by amplifying divisive content in for instance, Israel, India and of course America. Don't forget that TikTok harvests a vast trove of user data including name age, email address, phone number, credit card number, facial features, voice prints, keystrokes photos, videos and viewing habits, Senator Tom Cotton said on the .
Zuckerberg had said that "2024 was the big election year around the world and a lot of countries like India and a tonne of countries that had elections and incumbents basically lost every single one"
Delhi Police opposed Tahir's interim bail plea, citing the case of Amritpal Singh, who had filed his nomination from jail, as a precedent
The AAP national convener claimed that the BJP does not intend to build houses for the slum dwellers
Tech billionaire Elon Musk live-streamed a chat with a leader of Germany's far-right party on Thursday, using the power of his social media platform, X, to amplify its message ahead of an upcoming national election and raising concerns across Europe about potential meddling by the world's richest man. Musk, who worked last year to help reelect Donald Trump in the United States, told Alice Weidel, a co-leader of the Alternative for Germany party and its candidate for chancellor, that he was strongly recommending that people vote for AfD, using the acronym for the party. The two agreed that Germany's taxes are too high, that there is too much immigration and that it was a mistake for the country to shut down nuclear power plants. More than 190,000 X accounts tuned into the conversation. Musk has previously used X to endorse AfD, and he authored an article for the Welt am Sonntag newspaper, claiming Germany under center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz is teetering on the edge of economic
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Tuesday defended the recent amendment to election rules restricting CCTV footage of polling booths from public inspection, saying it is meant to protect voters' privacy and prevent use of data for creating fake narratives. Based on Election Commission's recommendation, the government had last month tweaked an election rule to prevent public inspection of certain electronic documents such as CCTV camera footage of polling stations to prevent misuse. In his first remarks on tweak of Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, Kumar said only sharing of CCTV footage from inside and outside polling booths have been restricted. Addressing a press conference here to announce the schedule for Delhi Assembly polls, he said such data or footage was banned for public inspection through EC's instructions in 2024. He said certain other documents which are allowed under Rule 93 of the Conduct of Election Rules will continue to be available. Some documents which
At the time of filing this report, the Canadian Prime Minister's office had not provided a comment.
This year will have the fewest elections of any in the current five-year electoral cycle. What does that mean for welfare schemes?
Bangladesh's Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin has said that ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League may participate in elections unless the government or the judiciary issues a ban against the party. The chief election commissioner (CEC) said this during a meeting with election officials at the Chittagong Circuit House on Monday, The Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported. Nasir Uddin also assured that the Election Commission runs with complete independence and faces no external pressure. We are committed to taking all necessary steps to ensure a fair and transparent election, he added. The CEC also acknowledged the issue of fake voters in previous elections and attributed a decline in voter registration to mistrust in the voting process. He announced plans to initiate a voter list update soon to address these concerns. The voter list will be updated within the next six months. This time, elections will not follow previous patterns. Since August 5, there has been .
Delhi's Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls nears completion and the final voter list will be published on January 6, 2025
The inauguration of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya in January was meant to deliver an unprecedented electoral harvest to the ruling BJP in the Lok Sabha polls. And when it lost its majority, many thought it was the beginning of reverses awaiting the BJP. The outgoing year followed anything but a predictable path for the party. However, as the year drew to its end, the BJP has stamped its authority on the country's political map once again with remarkably improbable wins in what were seen as difficult state elections in Haryana and Maharashtra. The BJP's vulnerabilities and as well as strengths were in full display in the year but what stood out is its ability to adapt its message and methods to the voices from the ground, underlining the full-spectrum of its campaign machine in which various components rise and fall in importance depending on its electoral needs. If the RSS was seen to be less than fully active during the national elections, its affiliates and sympathisers were in full force
Musk, a key advisor and major donor to US President-elect Donald Trump, has repeatedly praised the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany in recent weeks
From promoting schemes to fact-checking election promises, political parties are spending big on social media with a creative blend to connect with voters
In the current version of CAB, if a state's elections cannot be held with the LS, the EC will be empowered to declare the dates for those polls, effectively giving it final say on the Assembly's term
The Congress on Tuesday filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court challenging the recent amendments to the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 and expressed hope that the apex court will help restore the "fast eroding" integrity of the electoral process. The government has tweaked an election rule to prevent public inspection of certain electronic documents such as CCTV camera and webcasting footage as well as video recordings of candidates to prevent their misuse. AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh, who filed the petition, said, "The integrity of the electoral process is fast eroding. Hopefully the Supreme Court will help restore it." "A writ has just been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the recent amendments to the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961," he said in a post on X. Ramesh said the Election Commission, a Constitutional body charged with the conduct of free and fair elections cannot be allowed to unilaterally, and without public consultation, amend such a vital law in
The government has tweaked an election rule to prevent public inspection of certain electronic documents such as CCTV camera and webcasting footage as well as video recordings of candidates to prevent their misuse. Based on the recommendation of the Election Commission (EC), the Union law ministry has amended Rule 93 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, to restrict the type of "papers" or documents open to public inspection. According to Rule 93, all "papers" related to elections shall be open to public inspection. The amendment inserts "as specified in these rules" after "papers". Law ministry and EC officials separately explained that a court case was the "trigger" behind the amendment. While documents such as nomination forms, appointment of election agents, results and election account statements are mentioned in the Conduct of Election Rules, electronic documents such as CCTV camera footage, webcasting footage and video recording of candidates during the Model Code of Cond
Malini argues that simultaneous elections would conserve resources, which could then be allocated to vital sectors like education and health
The idea of holding simultaneous elections is not new for India. In fact, elections for many years after Independence were held simultaneously
Government pushes forward controversial 'One Nation, One Election' Bills amid objections from the Opposition
Ahead of the introduction of bills on holding simultaneous polls, the government Tuesday said the concept is not new to the country. Following the adoption of the Constitution, elections to the Lok Sabha and all state assemblies were conducted simultaneously from 1951 to 1967, it noted. The government said the first general elections to the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies were held together in 1951-52, a practice that continued for three subsequent general elections in 1957, 1962, and 1967. "However, this cycle of synchronised elections was disrupted in 1968 and 1969 due to the premature dissolution of some State Legislative Assemblies," an official explainer said. The Fourth Lok Sabha was also dissolved prematurely in 1970, with fresh elections held in 1971. Unlike the first, second, and third Lok Sabha, which completed their full five-year terms, the fifth Lok Sabha's term was extended until 1977 under Article 352 because of the declaration of Emergency. Since then, only a few Lo