EC asks YouTube to remove AAP leader Shazia Ilmi’s controversial video

NEW DELHI: In what is probably the Election Commission’s first initiative to regulate "malicious content" on social media during Lok Sabha elections, the poll watchdog has asked video-sharing site Youtube to remove a controversial video featuring Aam Aadmi Party leader Shazia Ilmi in which she is seen asking Muslims to be more "communal" while casting their vote in these elections.

The poll commission is yet to hear back from the site on its request. Although the EC has no absolute authority over such websites, it had recently issued guidelines making the Model Code of Conduct applicable to social media as well. The poll panel has also asked the Internet and Mobile Association of India to cooperate and inform it regarding the expenditure incurred by political parties and candidates on political advertisements as and when demanded.

According to a senior EC official, who spoke to ET on condition of anonymity, the decision to seek the removal of Ilmi’s video was taken on the ground that it violates the Model Code of Conduct which prohibits candidates from soliciting votes on religious grounds. Oddly, the EC hasn’t taken any action against Ilmi for making the statements.

The video was the biggest controversy that hit the AAP this poll season. The party distanced itself from Ilmi’s comment. A statement from the AAP said that it does not "believe in this kind of politics nor do we endorse it. All our representatives should be careful in their choice of words so that there is no scope for misinterpretation".

The AAP leader said her "play of words" had been misinterpreted by the media. "Muslims aren't communal, are very secular, they need to be communal, wasn't to incite hatred, I was telling them to think of themselves and not be slaves to any party," she had told reporters at the time the video went viral last month.