Election Commission orders Twitter India to remove tweets with exit polls 

New Delhi: With the seven-phase Lok Sabha election coming to an end, the Election Commission of India ordered Twitter India to remove all tweets related to exit polls, which will be announced on May 19 after the conclusion of the voting in the last phase. The counting of votes and the official results will be declared on May 23.

The development comes after a “complaint” was received but later the sources, without specifying the complaint, confirmed that the user removed the tweet, on Thursday.

Earlier, the EC had issued show-cause notice to three media outlets for allegedly publishing a survey “predicting the results” of Lok Sabha election.

According to Section 126A of the Representation of the People Act, “no person shall conduct any exit poll and publish or publicize by means of the print or electronic media ... the result of any exit poll during such period ... In case of a general election, the period may commence from the beginning of the hours fixed for poll on the first day of poll and continue till half an hour after closing of the poll in all the states and union territories.”

Also, whoever contravenes the provisions of the section is punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine or with both.

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