Poll campaign spills on to social media in Barishal

Taking advantage of the absence of any legal provision, supporters of Barishal City Corporation (BCC) poll candidates have launched colourful social media campaigns by posting photos, banners and posters online. The display of such campaign materials is prohibited on city roads, but they are being showcased in social media, including Facebook (FB).
Voters of Barishal city find the campaign materials of the candidates once they open their FB accounts. A section of overzealous supporters of the candidates have posted the campaign photos and posters in FB. They are also trying to persuade voters to vote for their candidates.
However, AL, BNP and JP mayoral candidates said they were unaware of any such campaigning by their supporters. 
Helal Uddinn Khan, assistant returning officer of the BCC poll, said there was no law to control such campaign. If anyone gets such materials on social media, the person can file a case under the ICT Act.  Ten vigilance teams, led by 10 executive magistrates, are now working all over the city to combat election rule violation.Barishal deputy commissioner Md Habibur Rahman said the election code of conduct rules do not say anything about soft copy campaigning. But such rules would be updated in future to deal with such campaigning.
Enayet Hosen Chowdury, member secretary of the Fair Election Monitoring Alliance (Barishal unit), said that campaigning in social media has violated the election conduct rules. He demanded a new Act to control such propaganda.

Poll campaign spills on to social media in Barishal

Taking advantage of the absence of any legal provision, supporters of Barishal City Corporation (BCC) poll candidates have launched colourful social media campaigns by posting photos, banners and posters online. The display of such campaign materials is prohibited on city roads, but they are being showcased in social media, including Facebook (FB). Voters of Barishal city find the campaign materials of the candidates once they open their FB accounts. A section of overzealous supporters of the candidates have posted the campaign photos and posters in FB. They are also trying to persuade voters to vote for their candidates. However, AL, BNP and JP mayoral candidates said they were unaware of any such campaigning by their supporters. Helal Uddinn Khan, assistant returning officer of the BCC poll, said there was no law to control such campaign. If anyone gets such materials on social media, the person can file a case under the ICT Act. Ten vigilance teams, led by 10 executive magistrates, are now working all over the city to combat election rule violation.Barishal deputy commissioner Md Habibur Rahman said the election code of conduct rules do not say anything about soft copy campaigning. But such rules would be updated in future to deal with such campaigning. Enayet Hosen Chowdury, member secretary of the Fair Election Monitoring Alliance (Barishal unit), said that campaigning in social media has violated the election conduct rules. He demanded a new Act to control such propaganda.