Social media poll rules 'hard to enforce'

For the first time, India's politicians and political parties will have to ensure their social media accounts comply with official guidelines on "acceptable behaviour".

That means these accounts cannot carry political ads or any other content that could "influence" voters.

Critics say this is hard to enforce.

India will hold elections from 11 April to 19 May. The guidelines were effective from Sunday, when the dates were announced.

Only the official handles of political parties and politicians will be affected, said technology expert Prasanto K Roy.

"But the thing with social media is that there are so many layers of plausible deniability. There are thousands and thousands of accounts that are not 'officially' connected with political parties, but help carry their messages. All of this stuff will happen through them," he told the BBC.