Shillong: The Speaker of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, Thomas A Sangma, on Wednesday issued a formal ruling prohibiting legislators from recording selfie videos inside the House and sharing them on social media, saying such acts violate parliamentary decorum and established legislative practice.
The decision follows a recent incident in which Voice of the People’s Party (VPP) chief and Nongkrem MLA Ardent Basaiawmoit uploaded a video of himself from inside the Assembly during the ongoing Budget Session.
The clip, which showed him participating in the proceedings, was later deleted, but had already drawn public attention online.
Addressing the House, Speaker Sangma said the act amounted to a breach of parliamentary discipline and the spirit of the rules governing conduct inside the Assembly.
“A member has taken a video of himself while participating in the proceedings inside the House and circulated it on social media. This is a breach of parliamentary practices and decorum,” he stated.
ALSO READ: SC closes PIL on Tripura student’s killing, asks petitioner to approach Attorney General
Referring to the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business, the Speaker said such behaviour was not in keeping with the standards expected of legislators.
Invoking Rule 315, he formally ruled that recording videos inside the House and circulating them on social platforms is prohibited.
“Therefore, in exercise of Rule 315, I hereby inform the House that such activity — a member taking a video of himself while speaking inside the House and circulating it on social media, is prohibited. This is my ruling,” the Speaker declared.
The directive is aimed at reinforcing decorum and discipline within the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, and sets a clear boundary on the use of personal devices for content creation during official proceedings.
