In pursuance of the upcoming Assam State Assembly Elections, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Assam, initiated media monitoring to ensure adherence to the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) released by the Election Commission of India (ECI). The mandate for this crucial project has been bagged by Megon Creative India Pvt. Ltd, a leading technology company in Northeast India, based out of Guwahati.
For the first time ever, the Chief Electoral Officer is extensively monitoring social and online media, to check for violations of the Model Code of Conduct during the state elections, to support the idea of a free and fair process. The Election Commission of India releases a Model Code of Conduct every year, which is a set of guidelines for the conduct of political parties and candidates during elections with respect to candidates, speeches, polling day, polling booths, portfolios, election manifestos etc. It comes into effect immediately after the Election Schedule is announced to debar parties both at central and state level from misusing their position of advantage.
The agency’s services include communication strategy, digital media management, content development, IT research and innovation, product development, technology training and IT consulting etc. In the past, the agency has extensively worked on media monitoring assignments which include NRC Assam and UNICEF.
The project involves monitoring of both traditional and social media round the clock, collecting data and analyzing it, sentiment analysis, trend monitoring, fact-checking, monitoring of various news portals, tracking social media conversations of all election-related content etc. For proficient monitoring the agency incorporates a comprehensive media monitoring strategy which includes usage of specialized tools and manual methods performed by trained professionals.
Stepping in the age of digitization, online interference has become a major cause of concern which can have devastating results. And with people getting assimilated more into the online loop, media monitoring efforts to address the challenges of how public opinion can be manipulated online, and its impact on elections has become more critical. As the State Assembly Elections approaches, it is indeed a unique step by the Chief Electoral Officer to ensure the smooth conduct of the 2021 polls.
