Commission designated the digital platform Real411, available on the IEC portal for reporting suspected disinformation under the new code.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has vowed to strictly implement the new Electoral Code of Conduct Countering Disinformation in the upcoming local government elections.
The code, also known as the disinformation or fake news code, came into effect on Friday, the same day it was promulgated.
IEC to police online reports with new disinformation code
Part of the Electoral Code of Conduct, it is intended to enhance election integrity and promote free, fair and orderly local government elections on 4 November.
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View MapIEC national spokesperson, Kate Bapela said the code is meant to guard against deliberate disinformation online.
The commission has designated the digital disinformation reporting and tracking platform known as Real411, which is available on the IEC portal, for reporting suspected disinformation under the code.
“The Real411 platform is accessible to any members of society, political parties, candidates and organisations wishing to report suspected election-related disinformation. This could be disinformation targeting the electoral process, contestants, the IEC and its staff,” Bapela said.
However, the code permits lawful criticism, opinion, commentary, fair reporting, satire, parody or legitimate democratic debate, insofar as these fall within the realm of protected speech.
Real411 for reporting suspected disinformation
“The code provides rail guards for the conduct of political parties, candidates and anyone acting on political parties’ or candidate’s instruction, authority or for reward across all election-related communication, whether online or offline, paid or unpaid,” said Bapela.
“The code protects legitimate debate and robust debate.”
In terms of the code, political parties and candidates are strictly required to abide by the rules stated in it.
They are strictly required to check information for accuracy before sharing it and they must take responsibility for content published by them, for them, or on their behalf.
When they have disseminated false or misleading information, they must publicly retract and correct it within 36 hours of becoming aware of it and censure those responsible where appropriate.
IEC advised parties to avoid deceptive practices
The IEC has advised that parties and candidates must avoid deceptive practices – including fake accounts, bot networks, coordinated inauthentic behaviour, doxing and cyberbullying and must label AI-generated, or “synthetic” content clearly before distributing it.
Similarly, they must clearly label political advertising, so the public can identify who is behind it.
Those who identify online disinformation must report it to Real411 within 36 hours.
