Twitter and Facebook users face $20,000 fines if they use their accounts to campaign for their favourite party or leader on election day. Chief Electoral Officer Robert Peden said material posted on social media websites was covered by strict rules which prohibit electioneering on election days.
“People should be aware that if they tweeted on election day to influence how somebody votes they will be breaching the [Electoral] Act and the [Electoral] Commission will take action.”
He said while people could leave websites with campaign material up on election day, they could not add further material or advertise the website.
“For a long time, the law has allowed for campaign-free election days, and my sense is that New Zealanders like it that way and so it’s not really in people’s interest to do things like tweet and breach the rules.”
The sites would be monitored on November 26, and people caught breaking the rules could face fines of $20,000, Mr Peden said.
Full Article: Tweeters face big fine if they break election law – Connect – NZ Herald News.