(New York) – Voters in India will go to the polls in a six-week general election starting on April 19, 2024, amid concerns that Indian authorities are exercising significant control over the digital ecosystem, which could lead to an uneven playing field, Human said. Rights Watch in a question-and-answer paper published today. The party or coalition of parties that wins a majority of 543 seats in the lower house of parliament will nominate a candidate for prime minister and form a government.
Human Rights Watch investigated potential threats to India’s online environment ahead of the election. Authorities have tightened their grip on digital platforms and amassed large amounts of personal data, which could affect the campaign environment. Human Rights Watch describes the additional steps tech companies should take to meet their human rights responsibilities in this election.
“The risk of misuse of technology in Indian elections is significant and could further tilt the playing field in favor of the ruling party,” said Deborah Brown, acting associate director of technology and human rights at Human Rights Watch. “The Election Commission of India must ensure that all political parties follow the model code of conduct and that the use of technology in their campaigns respects human rights.”
Human Rights Watch reviewed the policies of popular companies and found that all companies could do more to address all aspects of their products, services, and business practices that may cause, contribute to, or be linked to the undermining of free and fair elections.
Indian political parties are campaigning extensively through digital platforms. Ahead of the upcoming elections, political advertising on Google jumped in the first three months of 2024. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been the largest advertiser among political parties on both Google and Meta over the past three months and has built a massive operation to send messages via WhatsApp.
In recent years, Indian authorities have applied significant formal and informal pressure on tech companies, both to suppress critical speech and to preserve the online speech of government-linked actors who would otherwise violate the platforms’ policies. India shuts down the internet more than any other country, with authorities often using internet shutdowns to stop political protests and criticism of the government, violating domestic and international legal standards.
The misuse of personal data, which may contain sensitive and revealing information about people’s identity, age, religion, caste, location, behaviour, associations, activities and political beliefs, is a major issue in Indian elections. India has developed an extensive digital public infrastructure through which Indians can access social protection programs. The Indian government has collected vast amounts of personal data in the absence of adequate data protection laws to prevent the misuse of such data during campaigning and to properly protect privacy rights.
There have already been reports of misuse of personal data during the campaign period, which began on March 16. On March 21, the Electoral Commission said the government to stop sending messages promoting government policies to voters as it is a breach of campaign guidelines. The announcement and the accompanying letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to which it refers have raised concerns about data privacy as well as misuse of government communications for political purposes.
Social media platforms have come under scrutiny in recent years for failing to adequately invest in and address the use of their platforms to undermine participation in democratic elections. In India, Metta has been criticized for failing to curb the spread of hate speech and incitement to violence, and for contributing to giving the BJP an unfair advantage in online political campaigning during past elections.
The widespread availability of low-cost generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools that require little technical knowledge raises new concerns. Generative AI can be used to create deceptive videos, audio recordings and images impersonating a candidate, official or media. They spread rapidly on social media platforms, potentially undermining the integrity of elections or inciting violence, hatred or discrimination against religious minorities. In the run-up to the 2024 elections, several parties are using AI in their campaigns.
Companies must resist threats from authorities when responding to government requests to remove data or content, Human Rights Watch said. They must treat all parties and candidates fairly, especially when it comes to speech that incites violence or hatred.
Under the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, companies have a responsibility to respect human rights and correct abuses, including by addressing all aspects of their practices that contribute to undermining the right to participate in democratic elections .
“Ahead of India’s elections, tech companies need to demonstrate that their commitment to human rights is more than just words,” Brown said. “This means investing adequately in content moderation, conducting rigorous human rights impact assessments and meaningfully engaging with civil society.”
