Chat rooms and discussion forum
5.—(1)  Where a facility referred to in regulation 4(1)(c) (referred to in this regulation as a chat room or discussion forum) is to be maintained by or on behalf of a political party or a candidate or group of candidates during the election period, the political party or (as the case may be) the candidate or group of candidates or his or their election agents shall, before the start of the election period, appoint as moderator —
(a)one or more officers of the political party; or
(b)in the case of a chat room or discussion forum maintained by or on behalf of a candidate or group of candidates, any one or more persons,
to directly manage the chat room or discussion forum during that period and notify the Returning Officer accordingly.
(2)  The moderator of any chat room or discussion forum shall have the following duties:
(a)he must without delay remove any material contained in the chat room or discussion forum as and when directed by and in accordance with the written directions of the Returning Officer or any person acting under the Returning Officer’s authority; and
(b)he must maintain a record of all text messages, articles and letters sent to any such chat room, in particular the contents thereof, during the election period.
(3)  The political party or candidate or group of candidates who or which or on whose behalf a chat room or discussion forum is maintained shall —
(a)use its or his best efforts to ensure that the chat room or discussion forum is maintained in conformity with this regulation and any other written law;
(b)keep and furnish to the Returning Officer all information, records, documents, data or other materials concerning or relating to the provision of the chat room or discussion forum as the Returning Officer may, from time to time, require during the election period; and
(c)remove, or prohibit the inclusion of, the whole or any part of a text message, an article or a letter in any such chat room or discussion forum if the Returning Officer informs the moderator that the text message, article or letter is against public interest, public order or national harmony or offends good taste or decency and directs its removal or prohibition.