The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) recognises that disinformation is an emerging threat to free and fair elections, and so has embarked on a pilot world first initiative that is the Digital Disinformation Complaints (DDC) process to govern and engage on the issue of disinformation during the election period. In order to act on disinformation , the IEC is using the Real411 platform. The platform itself has been developed by Media Monitoring Africa (MMA).
The Digital Disinformation Complaints process is an IEC initiative that is governed by the draft Electoral Code of Conduct: Measures to Address Disinformation Intended to Cause Harm During The Election Period.
The Guiding Principles
- We want free and fair elections in South Africa.
- Disinformation is false, inaccurate or misleading information designed, presented and promoted online to intentionally cause public harm. Harm in this regard includes, but is not limited to, disrupting or preventing an election, creating hostility or fear in order to influence the conduct or outcome of an election, or unduly influencing the outcome of conduct of an election.
- Disinformation constitutes a threat to free and fair elections and democracy.
- The IEC recognises that disinformation is a critical item that needs to be addressed in elections, and so has drafted an Electoral Code to address Disinformation that we define as spreading false information with the intent to cause harm during the election period.
- The DDC process is about: transparency, accountability and allowing ordinary members of the public to lodge complaints in a transparent and accountable manner whilst protecting these members of the public from intimidation and harassment by keeping their identities confidential.
About Media Monitoring Africa
Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) was established in 1993 in Johannesburg, South Africa and, since then, has evolved from a pure monitoring-based project to an innovative organisation which implements successful media strategies for change. MMA uses technology, social media and data tools to make their work more efficient and effective.
The MMA is supporting this initiative in line with its mandate and organisational objectives, which includes ensuring free and fair elections, promoting media freedom and overall contributing to a functional democracy. MMA is also contributing because of and through its expertise and work on mis- and disinformation, and expertise and experience in developing and building digital literacy campaigns such as PAdRe (http://www.padre.org.za), Rover (https://www.rover.directory/), Open and Disclose (https://openanddisclose.org.za) and KnowNews (https://newstools.co.za/page/knownews).