Context:
India’s electoral campaigning has undergone a structural shift towards digital platforms, where social media advertising, influencers, and campaign firms play a decisive role. However, the Election Commission of India (ECI) continues to rely on a regulatory framework designed mainly for traditional media and direct party expenditure, leading to serious transparency and accountability gaps in digital elections.
Key Highlights:
Regulatory Challenges in Digital Campaigning
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Third-party actors (campaign firms, influencers, proxy pages) increasingly dominate digital political advertising.
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Election spending is no longer confined to political parties and candidates, but flows through external entities, escaping effective scrutiny.
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ECI directives focus primarily on candidates and political parties, leaving the wider digital ecosystem largely unregulated.
Evidence from Bihar Assembly Elections
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Third-party advertisers outspent political parties and candidates on platforms like Meta (Facebook, Instagram).
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They achieved greater visibility and impressions per ₹10 lakh spent, indicating higher cost efficiency.
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Ad reach patterns differed:
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Third-party ads were dispersed across age cohorts.
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Party and candidate ads were concentrated among younger voters.
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Legal and Disclosure Issues
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The Supreme Court has ruled that no entity can publish advertisements benefiting a political party or candidate without authorization.
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Despite this, external entities often fund advertisements appearing on official party pages.
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Digital spending disclosures are opaque, frequently listing payments under platform names rather than actual funding or designing entities.
Limitations of Current EC Measures
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The October 21 ECI notification attempted to widen regulation but:
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Applied only to a narrow pre-poll window.
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Focused largely on print media, not sustained digital campaigns.
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Temporal framing is weak, as electoral influence builds over months through continuous online exposure.
Relevant Prelims Points:
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Issue: Regulatory gaps in digital political campaigning.
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Causes:
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Rise of third-party political advertisers.
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Inadequate adaptation of election laws to digital ecosystems.
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Government Initiatives:
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Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) for pre-certification of political ads.
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ECI guidelines on election expenditure reporting.
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Benefits of Regulation:
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Ensures free and fair elections.
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Promotes financial transparency and accountability.
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Challenges:
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Ambiguous disclosure norms.
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Reverse funding flows via third-party entities.
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Limited enforcement capacity in digital spaces.
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Impact:
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Risk of electoral manipulation, unequal visibility, and distorted voter choice.
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Relevant Mains Points:
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Key Concepts & Definitions:
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Third-party actors: Non-party entities like influencers, campaign firms, and proxy advertisers involved in electoral outreach.
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Digital political advertisements: Paid political content on online platforms.
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MCMC: Statutory body for monitoring and pre-certifying political advertisements.
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Constitutional & Institutional Aspects:
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Role of Election Commission of India under Article 324.
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Supreme Court rulings on electoral fairness and advertisement norms.
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Governance & Technology Linkages:
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Intersection of electoral governance and digital technologies.
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Challenges of regulating algorithm-driven political communication.
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Concerns:
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Accountability gap in campaign finance.
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Inequitable influence of money through digital reach.
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Way Forward:
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Extend regulatory obligations to third-party actors.
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Mandate granular disclosure of funders, designers, and beneficiaries of digital ads.
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Regulate entire campaign duration, not just pre-poll windows.
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Strengthen platform-level transparency norms in coordination with ECI.
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UPSC Relevance (GS-wise):
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GS Paper II – Polity: Role and powers of the Election Commission, electoral reforms.
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GS Paper II – Governance: Transparency, accountability, and institutional adaptation.
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GS Paper III – Science & Technology: Impact of digital platforms on democratic processes.