Facebook hosts the Citizens’ Town Hall for first time voters in Bangalore

Facebook together with Josh Talks has organised the Citizens’ Town Hall in Bangalore, Karnataka. Facebook Citizens’ Town Hall is a unique multi city initiative to empower the first time voters and to help them gain the knowledge they need to actively participate in the upcoming general elections in India.

Jointly organised with Josh Talks, the Citizens Town Hall was inaugurated by Sanjiv Kumar, Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka. During his interaction with the audience, Kumar addressed queries and concerns on the voting process, digitization, among other pertinent topics.

Shivnath Thukral, Public Policy Director, India & South Asia at Facebook said, “Facebook has an incredible potential to be a positive force for democracy around the World. A number of steps are being taken by us to protect the integrity of the upcoming elections in India. We also believe that Facebook has an important part to play in creating an informed community, and help people access information they need to take part in the democratic process. The Citizen’s Town Hall, initiative is being organized to empower youth with the knowledge they need that will drive an effective participation during the upcoming elections.”

Everyday people use Facebook to engage in conversations including politics and on issues related to elections. In line with Facebook’s efforts to establish elections integrity and efforts to help build an informed and civically-engaged community, this interactive session, starts with showcasing series of online videos to highlight the work done by young citizens towards elections.

The main aim of the event is to engage first time voters in active conversations and dialogue around elections. The event also featured a panel discussion on elections with participation from Ananda Thirtha, Activist, Bangalore Political Action Committee, Sunil Jain, Founder - Astha Foundation and PG Bhat - Activist, SMART Vote and was moderated by Josh Talks.

The Citizens' Town hall had already been conducted in 8 states and had received active participation from the audience.