With just a month after the launch of a pilot project to combat digital disinformation, the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has received more than 70 complaints through the online reporting platform.
Out of the 70 complaints received, 34 have been finalised while the remaining ones are still being processed, “to date no instances of deliberate disinformation have been found by the committee set up to assess complaints.”
According to the statement, a number of complaints received were not disinformation but related to the tone and content of the messages by the by political parties and contestants, “the Electoral Commission is addressing these complaints with the relevant political parties.”
Meanwhile, the commission says there are several complaints which refer to news articles or opinion pieces on news media websites, “complainants have been referred to the Press Council where appropriate.”
Vice-Chairperson of the IEC Janet Love says, “The complaints received have served to highlight the challenges of combating disinformation and the continuing need for education regarding what constitutes disinformation. At the time the number complaints and interactions demonstrates that South Africans are taking the time to engage with political messages and reporting in digital media.”
Meanwhile, Director of Media Monitoring Africa William Bird says, “We applaud the IEC for launching this world first mechanism for empowering the public and helping people combat disinformation. For a platform that is just in its infancy we have seen already great interest and support for what we are trying to do which can inspire us all as we build our democracy.”
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