Meta Partners with South Africa’s Independent Electoral Commission to Counter Misinformation During Elections

Meta, the company behind Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has announced its partnership with South Africa’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to combat misinformation on its platforms during the upcoming elections scheduled for May 29, 2024.

Nick Clegg, Meta’s President of Global Affairs, shared details about the cooperative effort, stating that they have offered the IEC comprehensive guidance about how to use social media platforms in a positive and productive manner during the election period. Furthermore, multiple training sessions have been conducted with South Africa’s Electoral Commission. These sessions focused primarily on the effective use of the WhatsApp bot to provide key updates to voters and distribute pertinent election information.

Meta has also revealed that it has prepared participating political parties and parliamentary committees for the election, providing them with demonstrations of how its tools operate.

Despite acknowledging that 2024 will be a challenging year — with numerous national elections to oversee, coupled with the fast pace of technological advancements such as generative AI — Meta has affirmed that it is prepared to tackle these challenges head-on in its efforts to maintain the integrity of the electoral process on its platforms.

Nick Clegg, speaking on behalf of Meta, has acknowledged that generative AI – a technology that can create convincingly realistic content – is at the forefront of his concerns. To ensure that it doesn’t get misused and positively contributes to the evolving digital landscape, he is investing a significant portion of his time. “I probably spend most of my time on exactly that (generative AI): making sure that we have the appropriate safeguards in place, particularly since this technology is so new,” Clegg reassures.

Meta also addressed the widespread apprehension regarding AI manipulation potentially disrupting elections across society. Despite the perceived minimal effect of AI manipulation in previously concluded elections in other nations, the company remains vigilant. Meta recognizes the fact that circumstances can change quickly and unexpectedly. Complacency, therefore, cannot be afforded at any point, particularly in protecting the integrity of the democratic process.

In February 2024, in a bid to strengthen its ability to combat misinformation, Meta entered into a partnership with notable technology companies such as Adobe, Amazon, Google, IBM, Microsoft, OpenAI, TikTok, and X. This alliance was announced during the 60th annual Munich Security Conference.

According to Clegg, identification plays a crucial role in regulating misinformation. “You can’t control or regulate something you can’t identify in the first place. Identifying the origin, the provenance, and detecting the genesis of synthetic content is quite important,” he emphasized.

The 2024 elections in South Africa mark a historic moment as they allow independent candidates to compete for national and provincial office for the first time. An estimated 370 political parties are eligible to partake in the election.

In another unprecedented move, South Africans residing or travelling abroad now have the opportunity to register for the national elections thanks to a new online voter registration system, launched in December 2023.

Notwithstanding these advancements, the IEC has already suffered two data breaches, which resulted in the exposure of the parliamentary candidate lists of two political parties. These incidents are currently being investigated by the country’s information regulator, in accordance with the requirements set by the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).