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Assembly elections 2019: Morning notifications by Facebook for netizens to go out and vote

In the morning, Facebook started sending notification to its over 300 million users in India, saying “get information about voting and share that you’ve voted.”

Assembly elections 2019: Morning notifications by Facebook for netizens to go out and vote

Representational image. (Photo: iStock)

Social networking giant, Facebook activated its election notification feature for India on Monday, urging people to go out and vote for their candidates in the Haryana and Maharashtra Assembly polls.

Voting in BJP-ruled Haryana for 90-member Legislative Assembly and in NDA-ruled Maharashtra for 288-member Legislative Assembly started today.

In the morning, Facebook started sending notification to its over 300 million users in India, saying “get information about voting and share that you’ve voted.”

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In April, Facebook had joined other social media companies in a voluntary code of ethics for the elections with the Election Commission of India (ECI). It includes measures like a dedicated communications channel for notice and take down after receiving valid legal order, processing of valid requests in the blackout period ahead of voting and voter education efforts.

“Facebook recently launched two new products in India to help people learn about issues they care about and engage with candidates and elected officials in meaningful ways,” Facebook India Vice President and Managing Director Ajit Mohan said in a blog post.

Facebook’s ‘Candidate Connect’ and ‘Share You Voted’ tools were introduced to give voters accurate information and help people learn more about different candidates and share with their friends that they’ve cast their votes.

“The products have been customised, based on what we’ve learned from local research, including the community’s desire to hear directly from their candidates,” said Mohan.

Search engine Google has also introduced a series of steps to urge the users to register to vote.

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