Social media has made it a lot easier for political parties to get out their message to more voters. As more than two-thirds of Indians live in rural areas, political parties are trying to extend their social media reach through regional languages, to go beyond urban areas where Hindi and English are more commonly spoken. When Modi’s BJP won a landslide victory in 2014, social media had not become as pervasive as it is today. It all helps explain why social media platforms like Facebook, its messenger WhatsApp and micro-blogging site Twitter have become such fierce political battlegrounds. But the new rule is unlikely to stop thousands of party workers from spreading messages on social media platforms.

Source: The Express Tribune March 22, 2019 10:41 UTC