Twitter Ban on Election Night

There’s no denying that social media has changed the face and flow of information.  On Election night, that unstoppable flow clashed with Canadian law as Twitter users breached Election Canada’s ban on early transmission of polling results. Tweeters began twittering election information before polls closed on the West Coast.

The impugned legislation in question is Section 329 of Canada’s Elections Act, which prohibits the transmission of voting results until all polling stations, nationwide, have closed.  Election Canada reminded Canadians in April that posts and tweets via Facebook and Twitter fell within the Act.  Penalties for violating the act could include a fine of up to $25,000 or up to five years in prison.

Tweettheresults.ca, a website that promised to bring readers “Canada’s first real-time election” by hosting tweets containing election results, temporarily shut itself down until all polls had closed Monday night in order to not offend the Act.

After the first polls closed on the East Coast, one particular spoof tweet had some people concerned that Election Canada was censoring tweets.  ”Conservatives ███ █████ in ███ ridings. Liberals ███ █████. NDP █████ ██ ███ ███ seats!”

Some have called the legislation outdated and in need of amendment.  And it’s true, with the explosive surge in Facebook and Twitter usage, Election Canada has no way of effectively enforcing Section 329.  We’ll see what our newly elected Conservative majority has to say about that.