Political Parties Must Get Pre-Certification from MCMC for Ads: Election Commission

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): The Election Commission of India (ECI) has taken a major step ahead of the Bihar Assembly Elections 2025 and other state by-elections. The Commission has directed that all political parties and candidates can now run any political advertisement on social media or electronic platforms only after obtaining pre-certification from the respective Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC).

The ECI stated that this decision considers the Bihar Assembly elections announced on 6 October and the by-elections in six states and eight constituencies of Jammu & Kashmir.

According to the press note, a 9 October order made it mandatory for all national, state, and registered political parties, as well as individual candidates, to obtain certification before publishing any internet-based political ads. This includes social media platforms. No advertisement can be run without prior MCMC certification.

To implement this, district- and state-level MCMC committees have been formed across the country. These committees will be responsible for verification and certification of political advertisements. They will also closely monitor suspicious activities such as paid news on media platforms and take necessary action when required.

The Commission also clarified that from now on, candidates must provide details of all their official social media accounts at the time of filing nominations. This is aimed at ensuring transparency and preventing the use of fake or misleading accounts for campaigning.

Furthermore, under Section 77(1) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and following Supreme Court directives, all political parties are required to submit a detailed report of their social media campaign expenditure to the ECI within 75 days of the conclusion of assembly elections.

This report must include payments to internet companies, websites, content creators, costs of content dissemination, and expenses related to operating social media accounts.