Assembly Elections 2022: Twitter announces initiatives for voters ahead of polls in 5 states

Twitter unveiled a series of initiatives on Thursday aimed at empowering voters with the information they need to vote in the forthcoming Assembly elections in five states, as per the PTI report.

Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur, and Goa will be contested in seven stages from February 10 to March 7, with results announced on March 10.

According to PTI, elections for 690 assembly seats will be conducted, with 18.3 crore people, including 8.5 crore women, eligible to vote in the five states.

"Elections are when people come to Twitter to find credible information about voting, to learn about candidates and their manifestos, and to engage in healthy civic debate and conversation. As a service for public conversation, Twitter is committed to enabling people to make informed decisions when exercising their civic rights," Twitter said in a statement.

Twitter's initiatives, which are powered by the open Internet, are aimed at not just increasing voter participation, but also ensuring that voters are interested, engaged, and educated throughout the election cycle, according to the company.

Twitter will publish a customised emoji as part of the campaign, which will be accompanied by a notice and reminder mechanism that will allow individuals to freely sign up for reminders on the day voting begins.

Voter education quiz will also engage participants in Q&As, arming them with crucial information about the polls, according to the press release.

Twitter said that it has partnered with the Election Commission of India and Chief Electoral Officers to provide an information search prompt to make it easier to obtain trustworthy and authoritative information for the upcoming Assembly elections.

When visitors search for relevant keywords on Twitter's Explore page, these suggestions give reputable, authoritative sources of information. People will be directed to places where they may find accurate information on candidate lists, voting dates, polling booths, and other topics.

The Search Prompt will be accessible in Hindi, Punjabi, and Konkani, in addition to English, and will include various hashtags.

In addition, Twitter will offer seminars and training sessions for non-profits in each of the five states, with the goal of generating literacy materials and pre-bunks to combat election disinformation.

"... And events of political and civic significance always find a place among the conversations on the service. Public discourse is shaped by these conversations, and we recognise the responsibility that it places on us -- to ensure that people are met with reliable and authentic information as they go out to vote," Twitter India Manager Public Policy and Government Payal Kamat said as per PTI mentioned.

She added that the firm has been collaborating with government agencies, including the Election Commission of India, and that it would continue to use the Open Internet to improve civic dialogue and encourage quality voting this election season.