Combating disinformation in the elections

The Independent Electoral Commission and Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) have joined forces with Google, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok to fight the spread of disinformation in the run up to, during and beyond the November 1 local government elections.

Commission vice-chairperson, Janet Love, said disinformation posed a real threat to the exercise of various rights and to the access of constitutional protections, including freedom of expression, access to credible information and the freedom to make informed political choices.

“The dissemination of disinformation has huge potential to undermine the fairness and credibility of elections,” she added. “It also threatens democratic political and policy-making processes.

“Credible information is the lifeblood of all democracies. Trustworthy information is crucial in the process that enables citizens to choose their leaders.

“Working to counteract misinformation and distortions from becoming the focus of citizens, the Electoral Commission and MMA have entered into this ground-breaking agreement to co-operate with the four major social media platforms.”

The commission and MMA will use Real411, a system developed by the MMA, as well as PADRE software, to identify and eliminate misinformation and disinformation contained in advertisements published in all media.

William Bird, MMA’s Africa director, explained how this will work.

“On Real411, once a complaint has been reviewed and points to constituting disinformation or misinformation, the commission will notify the affected online platform,” he said.

“This notification will be acknowledged and processed as expeditiously as possible by the online platform.

“The social media platforms have appointed persons or teams during the election period to prioritise referrals from the commission. Actions taken by the platforms are in terms of their policies and may include the removal of the content, the publication of an advisory warning and/or the delisting of the post.

“With regard to advertising content by contestants, PADRE

will enable all stakeholders to make use of this transparent repository of political advertisements.”

Given the power and speed of social media, the cooperation with online platforms will help to enable the rapid submission and consideration of any complaints received in relation to alleged disinformation.

Complaints will be considered by a panel of relevant experts including those with expertise in media law, social and digital media. They will make recommendations for possible further action for the consideration of the Commission. This action could include:

• Referring the matter to the electoral court;

• Referring the matter to social media platforms to act upon in terms of their respective policies and undertakings; and

• Issuing media statements to alert the public and correct the disinformation.

Nomonde Gongxeka-Seopa, head of public policy, Southern Africa at Facebook said: “Elections continue to be a priority for us at Facebook.

“Over the years we’ve dedicated unprecedented resources with protecting election integrity at heart, including our ongoing work in reducing misinformation, supporting civic engagement and increasing transparency in political advertising. We’re looking forward to receiving the final framework from the IEC.”

Twitter’s head of public policy for sub-Saharan Africa, Emmanuel Lubanzadio, added: “Twitter’s number one priority is the health of the public conversation and we are deeply committed to protecting and supporting election conversations around the world.

“We recognise the role Twitter plays in political discourse and will continue to ensure that those using the service are doing so in a safe and secure manner.”