CEC Thapaliya urges media not to entertain materials tainting election

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya has urged the media and social site users to refrain from disseminating content likely to taint the election and democracy.

CEC Thapaliya was addressing a virtual training for media persons organized by Meta, the parent company of Facebook, today. The training is held at the request of the Election Commission in view of the House of Representatives (HoR) and the Province Assembly elections being held on November 20.

He said the Commission emphasizes that the media should self-regulate and self-restraint when it comes to disseminating election-related news and content.

Stating that the Election Commission has for the first time described the false news, misinformation and hate-speech and made provisions in the election code-of-conduct for its regulation, the Chief Election Commissioner stressed on the need of support from all sides in this as the Commission has sought to have the media and the social sites regulated and not to control them.

A Press Office has been set up at the Election Commission, he said, for maintaining the dignity and fairness of the election and for facilitating the dissemination of election-related information through a systematic channel.