The Electoral Commission of South Africa has introduced a code of conduct to fight disinformation before the local government elections on 4 November.
The commission gazetted the Electoral Code of Conduct Countering Disinformation in the Local Government Elections on 4 September. The code aims to protect election integrity whilst allowing free and fair political debate.
The new rules apply to political parties, candidates and anyone working on their behalf. This includes all election-related communication, whether online or offline, paid or unpaid.
The code protects lawful criticism, opinion, commentary, fair reporting, satire, parody and legitimate democratic debate. These forms of expression remain protected speech.
Commitments for parties and candidates
Political parties and candidates must verify information before sharing it. They take responsibility for content published by them, for them or on their behalf.
The code requires parties to publicly retract and correct false or misleading information within 36 hours of becoming aware of it. Those responsible must be censured where appropriate.
Deceptive practices are banned. These include fake accounts, bot networks, coordinated inauthentic behaviour, doxing and cyberbullying.
Parties must clearly label content generated by artificial intelligence before distributing it. Political advertising must also be clearly labelled so the public can identify who is behind it.
The code specifically prohibits disinformation targeting the Electoral Commission or its staff. Parties and candidates must correct such false information publicly.
Reporting disinformation
Political parties and candidates must report instances of online disinformation to Real411 within 36 hours of becoming aware of them.
The commission has designated Real411 as the official platform for reporting suspected disinformation under the code. Any individual, political party, candidate or organisation can use the platform to report suspected election-related disinformation.
The Real411 platform is accessible at https://real411.org.za/elections.
The code took effect on 4 September and will remain in force until the declaration of election results. Political parties and candidates will commit to comply with the code at a signing ceremony on 23 September.
Any breach of the disinformation code is subject to the same sanctions as violations of the Electoral Code of Conduct under the Local Government: Municipal Electoral Act 27 of 2000.
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