14. 03. 2014

NOISE ON THE INTERNET DURING ELECTION SILENCE

According to the Law on Election of Members of Parliament, silence covers - termination of the election campaign on television, radio, and in the newspapers, public party gatherings are prohibited, as well as publishing of estimates of the election results and advertising on the Internet. This "truce" lasts 48 hours, until the polls close on Sunday at 20.00 hours.

Because of these rules, the party headquarters, thousands of their activists, "spin doctors" and party hackers have stepped up a campaign on "Facebook" and "Twitter". These social networks in Serbia are used by about 3.5 million people, which is more than a half of the voters.

Sociologist Milan Nikolic explains for "Novosti" that the real aim of the two-day silence is to lower the tensions, and for voters to think carefully before the decision:

- It seems that the new technologies made the election silence meaningless because in the age of computers it is impossible to stop the campaign even in the finish of the race. However, silence enables a smoother finish (of the election race) and voting in a more relaxed surroundings.

Violation of election silence is punishable. For example, publishing of a public opinion survey is punishable by sanctions from 100,000 to 600,000 dinars.

- The Republic Broadcasting Agency (RBA) is responsible for controlling the adherence to the law by media, and misdemeanor charges to the prosecution are possible. The election silence refers also to the Internet as a medium - explained Dejan Đurđević, president of the Republic Electorial Commission.

On the voting day, it is allowed to publish the reports on where the candidates voted, but not their statements. Information on the turnout can be broadcast, as well as and videos of responsible national authorities and NGOs which inform the citizens at what time and in what way they can vote. It is forbidden to display the symbols of parties and other materials at a polling station and in the radius of 50 meters around it.

Elections silence of 7 days in Slovakia

Election silence does not exist in the U.S.A, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Island, Cyprus, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland, Great Britain.... Latvia, Slovenia, Malta and Romania have a two-day election silence, Russian Federation a three-day one, and the election silence in Slovakia lasts as many as seven days.

In most of the countries of our region the election silence lasts 24 hours.