ECI holds Third One-Day Conference for Media and Communication Officers

📌 Summary:

• ECI organised its Third One-Day Conference for Media and Communication Officers — ~200 officers from 10 States/UTs including Media Nodal Officers (MNOs), Social Media Nodal Officers (SMNOs), District PROs and State DPR officials
• CEC Gyanesh Kumar: every action of the Commission is based on the Constitution, electoral laws and written instructions; officials must proactively counter false narratives on social media
• CEC cited highest-ever voter turnouts in recent Assembly elections as proof of electors' trust in the electoral system
• EC Dr. Vivek Joshi warned that AI, deepfakes and synthetic content are spread by motivated actors to erode trust in institutions; officers must counter them per ECI rules and guidelines
• Sessions covered the communication strategy across the election cycle (roll to poll), ECINET, electoral laws on media, planning press notes, engaging young electors through Electoral Literacy Clubs (ELCs), and demonstrations of electoral roll preparation, polling and counting

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS2 Polity — ECI as a constitutional body (Art. 324), electoral integrity, combating misinformation/deepfakes in elections; GS3 — social media and institutional trust

📝 Prelims Facts:

• Chief Election Commissioner: Gyanesh Kumar; Election Commissioner: Dr. Vivek Joshi
• ECINET: ECI's integrated digital platform
• ELCs (Electoral Literacy Clubs) engage young electors

🔑 Key Term: ECINET — single-point digital platform of ECI integrating its election-related apps/services for electors, officials and parties