CHENNAI: The State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) on Wednesday wrote to the DGP to initiate legal action against TVK president Vijay and his propaganda unit under the Juvenile Justice Act for the alleged use of children for political gain during the elections.
It also urged the DGP to ensure immediate removal of videos from social media depicting children being used as influencers for political purposes. The commission has also written to the chief election commissioner seeking appropriate action in the matter.
The SCPCR acted on a complaint filed by Tamil Nadu Child Rights Watch, which raised concerns about the emotional exploitation of children for electoral influence by Vijay in his speech.
According to the complaint, Vijay, in one of his speeches, encouraged and influenced children to put pressure on their parents and elders to vote for a particular political party and its symbol, ‘Whistle’.
The complainant alleged that following this, videos that went viral showed children crying, refusing to take food and engaging in emotionally coercive behaviour to influence voting decisions within families. It further alleged that such content was being deliberately created and amplified to normalise the practice.
Stating that the act amounted to misuse of children in political campaigning, the commission noted that visual media have a strong impact on children and cannot be exploited for electoral purposes. It added that a prima facie case exists against the actor-turned-politician and his party, and that the matter warrants a proper investigation to ensure justice for children.
