New Delhi: Lok Sabha elections will be held in seven phases from April 11 to May 19, setting up a contest between Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is seeking a second term and Opposition parties trying to stitch up a coalition against his Bharatiya Janata Party.

Votes will be counted on May 23, said Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora in New Delhi on Sunday. Candidates have to keep several things in mind while using social media.

1. Candidates have to include all expenditure incurred on social media advertising in their overall election expenditure account

2. All candidates need to furnish details of their social media – Facebook and Twitter – accounts at the time of filing nominations

3. Any political ads that are being posted on Facebook or Twitter need to be pre-certified

4. No unverified political advertisements can be posted on Google, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube

5. No political party or candidate can display photographs of defence personnel on social media for campaigning purpose

6. If there’s any violation of social media rules then a grievance officer has been appointed to take complaints

7. Hate speech, fake news cannot be posted on social media and Facebook, Google, Twitter have “promised to take action”

8. All political ads that are posted on Facebook, Twitter or Google will be highlighted specifically by the IT giants

9. There have been no specific guidelines issued related to WhatsApp