The additional code was introduced to counter the deliberate spread of falsehoods during the upcoming local government elections.
Parties or candidates implicated in spreading disinformation are set to be subject to sanction in terms of the Electoral Act and/or any other relevant law. Pictures: The Citizen
Political parties and candidates that spread disinformation during election campaigns – online or offline – will face serious consequences, as a new code of disinformation has been gazetted by the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC).
Under the proposed measures, every political party and candidate must formally acknowledge the importance of information integrity, transparency and trustworthy media in enabling voters to make informed political choices.
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The proposals are open for public comment until Tuesday, 21 July and once public comments and comments from the parties and candidates are received and refined, they have to sign the code, which also requires them to recognise the harm that disinformation poses to free, fair and credible elections and to take steps to counter it.
These measures are contained in the Electoral Code of Conduct on Measures to Address Disinformation in Local Government Elections, commonly referred to as the disinformation code, recently gazetted by the IEC.
This additional code was introduced to counter the deliberate spread of falsehoods during the upcoming local government elections.
Any contravention or failure to comply with a provision of the disinformation code constitutes a breach.
Breaches could lead to sanctions
In that case, the party or candidate involved would be subject to sanction in terms of the Electoral Act and/or any other relevant law.
The disinformation code applies to all election-related communications, conduct and campaign activities throughout the electoral cycle and to both paid and unpaid content and communication.
The rule requires political parties and candidates to refrain from and prevent any deliberate manipulation of the public, including through digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and inauthentic online behaviour and social media.
Parties and candidates are duty-bound to take immediate steps to publicly retract and correct any disinformation or other false and misleading information that has been disseminated by them or on their behalf.
They are compelled to publicly censure any person responsible for disseminating such disinformation.
New rules target digital manipulation
The rules encourage transparency in information dissemination and would require parties to proactively disclose key information in the public interest and relevant to the elections or the electorate, including information relating to their structures, processes, decisions, expenditure, and policies.
“Every party and candidate undertakes not to use, or to encourage or sponsor the use of, any technology or tools that give rise to or amplify the spread of disinformation or intended to manipulate political discourse or the electorate,” the Government Gazette said.
This includes “falsified, fabricated, doxed or stolen data or material; targeted advertising, micro-targeting or prioritisation of targeted falsehoods directed at particular individuals or groups”.
The new measures also cover the IEC.
