To curb the spread of misinformation during and after elections, South Africa’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) recently announced a partnership with one of the world’s leading social media giants, Meta. Meta owns some of the popular social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp.
Nick Clegg, Meta’s President of Global Affairs, while speaking on the collaboration, emphasized the company’s commitment to supporting the IEC. He revealed that Meta has provided extensive training on using its platforms effectively to disseminate accurate information to voters.
The training program includes specific instructions on deploying a WhatsApp bot. A WhatsApp bot can be used by the IEC to share crucial election updates and relevant voting information directly with South Africans.
Meta recognizes the complexities of the upcoming South African elections. The high number of participating political parties (about 370 of them) and the potential for manipulation using new technologies like generative AI are highlighted concerns.
Clegg assured the public that Meta is actively developing safeguards to address these challenges. He stressed the importance of identifying the source and origin of synthetic content to effectively combat its spread.
He further stated that Meta was not alone in the process of eliminating misinformation. The company has joined forces with other tech giants, including Adobe, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, to improve its capacity for detecting and mitigating misinformation. This collaborative effort was announced at the 60th annual Munich Security Conference in February 2024.
However, some skepticism lingers concerning Meta’s past record of upholding promises regarding misinformation control. Additionally, two recent data breaches involving the IEC, exposing parliamentary candidate lists, raise concerns about voter information security. An investigation by South Africa’s information regulator is currently underway.
Despite these concerns, Meta’s partnership with the IEC signifies a positive step towards ensuring a free and fair election in South Africa. The ability for South Africans abroad to register to vote online for the first time adds another layer of inclusivity to this historic election.
However, the success of these efforts hinges on Meta’s ability to effectively address misinformation and the IEC’s capacity to safeguard voter information.
The historic collaboration marks a new turn in electioneering and elections in South Africa and promises to help ensure that these platforms don’t become breeding grounds for disinformation campaigns.
