EC directs Karnataka BJP to take down animated clip on Muslim quota row

Election Commission on Tuesday directed social media platform ‘X’ to ”immediately” take down an animated video shared by the Karnataka unit of the BJP related to the row over reservation for the Muslim community.

In a letter to the nodal officer of ‘X’, the EC took exception to the non-compliance of the directive of the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer to the social media platform for taking down the video.

The panel said the animated video shared by the Karnataka unit of the BJP on its social media handle was violative of the extant legal framework.

The EC said the Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka registered an FIR in this connection and wrote to ‘X’ on May 5 to take down the objectionable post as per the provisions of the Information Technology Act and the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021.

”However, the post has not been taken down yet. Therefore, ‘X’ is directed to take down the post immediately,” the EC said.

The fresh directive to ‘X’ came on the day votes were being cast in the remaining 14 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka. Polling in the other 14 parliamentary constituencies of Karnataka was held on April 26.

The Karnataka Congress had filed a complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer of the state, accusing the BJP of promoting enmity and hatred between the Muslim and the SC/ST communities. The complaint pertains to an animated video shared by the Karnataka BJP, which has caricatures of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The cartoon shows the leaders putting an egg marked ‘Muslim’ on a bird’s nest and after it hatches, Gandhi feeds ‘funds’ to the ‘Muslim’ hatchling while others strive for it. The ‘Muslim’ hatchling grows as a result and kicks the three others – SC, ST and OBC – out as Gandhi and Siddaramaiah laugh.