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Municipal elections are only ten days away. Therefore, the Electoral Commission and Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) are collaborating with key social media platforms in the run-up to the elections on November 1, 2021.
The goal of this collaboration is to combat the spread of misinformation across the platforms. This comes on the heels of the Commission and MMA agreeing to work with Google, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok to combat the epidemic of misinformation.
Vice-Chairperson of the Commission Janet Love argues that the framework was necessary since misinformation jeopardises the enjoyment of different rights and access to constitutional safeguards. This encompasses the right to free expression, access to accurate information, and the ability to make educated political decisions.
“The dissemination of disinformation has huge potential to undermine the fairness and credibility of elections. 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,” she stresses.
Love adds that the tech companies have already committed to providing training to discover disinformation and to use the positive communication opportunities that digital platforms may provide.
“This has been offered to a wide range of role-players, including political parties. 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 cooperate with the four major social media platforms.”
Furthermore, the Commission and the MMA will use Real411. The MMA devised this method as part of an overall strategy to combat fake news and misinformation.
Another piece of software, PADRE, will be utilised by the Commission and MMA as well. This will help to identify and remove misinformation and deception from advertising across all media.
William Bird, MMA’s Africa Director, emphasises, “Disinformation goes against the Code of Conduct and the electoral laws. On Real411, once a complaint has been reviewed and points to constituting disinformation or misinformation, the Commission will notify the affected online platform.”
The online platform will then acknowledge and process this notice as soon as possible. Bird claims that the social media sites assigned people or teams to prioritise Commission referrals during the election season.
He goes on to say that the platforms’ measures are in accordance with their regulations and may involve:
- The removal of the material.
- The publishing of an advisory warning.
- The delisting of the post.
Disinformation is described as incorrect, inaccurate, or misleading information that is intended to do harm.
In the context of elections, this includes misleading information designed to distort participation and the outcome of elections.
Real411 is a digital misinformation reporting mechanism used by the Electoral Commission’s Directorate of Electoral Offences. Initially, the Directorate was set up ahead of the 2016 Municipal Elections to look into suspected infractions of the Electoral Code of Conduct and banned conduct.
An outside law company will safeguard the IEC’s independence.
When the Elections Timetable is announced, the Commission’s Directorate goes into action. It consists of a panel of independent attorneys appointed to investigate complaints and make recommendations for possible further action to the Commission.
The engagement of an external legal company is intended to preserve the Electoral Commission’s independence and integrity in investigating such allegations.
Because of the speed and strength of social media, working with online platforms will make it possible for complaints about suspected misinformation to be submitted and reviewed more quickly.
A panel of qualified specialists will review complaints. This includes people with knowledge of media law, as well as social and digital media. They will provide suggestions for possible future action for the Commission’s consideration.
Examples of such action might include:
- Referral of the case to the Electoral Court.
- Referring the problem to social media sites for action in accordance with their own rules and commitments.
- Making public remarks in the media to enlighten the public and correct misinformation.
Fake news
The effort will also contain misinformation-related policies from the various platforms and materials to educate voters about the hazards of disinformation. As well as how to recognise fake news.
The social media partners applauded the historic commitment to cooperate with the Electoral Commission and the MMA in the Real411 initiative.
The partners assert that they have rules and mechanisms in place to combat misinformation. They will presumably continue to utilise these as a contribution to the communal effort to remove lies.
Elections remain a priority for Facebook, according to Nomonde Gongxeka-Seopa, Head of Public Policy, Southern Africa.
“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.”
Nomonde Gongxeka-Seopa
The Facebook team is currently waiting for the IEC to deliver the final framework.
“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,” says Emmanuel Lubanzadio, the Head of Public Policy, Sub-Saharan Africa at Twitter.
Lubanzadio notes that since 2019, Twitter has prohibited political advertisements. This is because the platform believes that political influence should be earned rather than purchased.
TikTok
TikTok’s Public Policy and Government Relations Manager, Fortune Mgwili-Sibanda, explains that TikTok does not tolerate disinformation that causes harm to people, its community, or the general public, regardless of purpose.
“This applies across all content on our platform, irrespective of whether user-generated or paid ads. In fact, we have taken the additional step to prohibit paid political ads as we don’t believe this is part of the experience users come to TikTok for – as the last sunny corner of the internet.”
Furthermore, Mgwili-Sibanda emphasises TikTok’s support for the IEC and MMA’s efforts to prevent disseminating false information on online platforms. Particularly in the run-up to the municipal elections.
TikTok, in fact, has built a dedicated hub on the platform’s Discovery page where South African users can discover all the information they need ahead of the elections.
Google’s Charles Murito, Director of Government Affairs and Public Policy for Sub-Saharan Africa, says that the famous search engine is also contributing.
“Google’s mission is to organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. Disinformation runs counter to that mission and, therefore, to our core business interest.”
He says that this is why Google makes such a significant effort to combat activities aimed at misleading, harming, or exploiting people and limiting the spread of inaccurate information through its services.
What are your opinions on social media platforms making efforts to reduce fake news?
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