‘Fake news code flawed’: Analyst warns IEC Disinformation Code is unworkable
· Citizen
Some civil society movements claim the Electoral Code of Conduct’s Disinformation Code is flawed and must be remedied in time for the November local government elections.
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Electoral process analyst Michael Atkins’ submission to the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) claims the draft code contains errors and omissions that, if left uncorrected, render the code either ineffective, or liable to produce severe unintended consequences.
There are structural reasons why the draft code cannot meet its own objectives without the Municipal Electoral Act being amended, Atkins said.
IEC extends deadline for public input
The IEC has shifted its deadline for input to Wednesday to give more time for public comments. The draft was introduced to counter the deliberate spread of falsehoods during the upcoming elections.
It 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.
Any contravention or failure to comply constitutes a breach where the party or candidate would be subject to sanction in terms of the Electoral Act.
Criminal enforcement raises concerns
Atkins argues that any contravention of the code is, by definition, a criminal offence and can only be ruled on by the court, creating a process too unwieldy in combating disinformation effectively.
This is complicated by the fact that the Municipal Electoral Act does not contain any equivalent of section 103A of the Electoral Act, which allows the IEC to mediate in disputes over contraventions of an electoral code.
He said the code would “result in an overwhelming flood of complaints over conduct that constitutes a criminal offence, or that nothing would attract criminal sanction”.
In either case, the code is rendered toothless, with the credibility of the electoral process being severely undermined.
Updated electoral framework demands
The analyst, however, stressed that the IEC’s draft Disinformation Code addresses a crucial problem affecting elections in the digital age, where information can spread rapidly, and disinformation can have wide effects.
The key challenge is that there is a vast quantity of online content, compared to traditional media communications, with political figures interacting in real time, Atkins said. This means that the Municipal Electoral Act and the existing Electoral Code are not equipped to handle the volume and pace of content existing on social media.
“The key problem is that all breaches of the Electoral Code are treated as criminal offences, and must be addressed in the courts.
“My submission is that the draft code, as published, will either result in too many criminal matters, or that almost nothing will be resolved.
“This can only be fixed by an amendment to the Act itself, with no time being available to do this before the November election,” Atkins said.
The draft aims to prevent the dissemination of fake news during the election to ensure electoral integrity. It targets false information meant to disrupt elections or create panic.