The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has convened an urgent Thought Leadership Seminar in Bloemfontein, gathering government officials, journalists, researchers, and civil society to confront what it describes as a systemic threat to the upcoming Local Government Elections: the rapid spread of digital misinformation.
A representative from the Government Communication and Information System delivered a stark warning to attendees, stating that unverified content circulating on social media platforms is actively shaping voter behavior and eroding public trust in democratic institutions.
“Misinformation spreads fast, especially on social media, and can shape voter behavior,” the GCIS representative said. “Unverified content undermines public trust in institutions and weakens democracy.”
The seminar, hosted by the Electoral Commission, revealed that the institution is now moving beyond reactive measures. The GCIS official outlined a multipronged strategy centered on mass education and internal capacity building.
“Right now, we’re looking at education ahead of the elections,” the representative said. “We’re looking at educating our own communicators. We’re looking at education of civil society. We’re looking at education of as many people as we can so that we don’t get those glitches that we had—those challenges of people being misinformed or disinformed around the election.”
The IEC confirmed it is establishing in-house capacity to manage institutional reputation proactively. “We are bringing in in-house capacity to deal with reputation management because that’s another area where we can no longer take things for granted,” the GCIS official added. “We need to have a reputation management capacity to identify and pick some of this harmful content before it can spread.”
Participants echoed the urgent need for public-facing education initiatives. One attendee stressed that basic electoral literacy remains critically low.
“The event was informative, but I feel more education should be rendered in terms of how election works because a lot of people have no idea what is happening,” the participant said. The same speaker called for stringent oversight of technology firms: “Big tech companies should be really restricted and monitored on how they dish out information and held accountable for misinformation.”
Another participant highlighted the specific exclusion of young people from electoral processes, urging the commission to invest in vocational integration. “The meeting was very interesting, but mostly if they can give to the youth the opportunity to train them about how to use the system and give them opportunity to have job,” they said.
The Electoral Commission confirmed that its strategic response now includes early detection of false information, rapid correction mechanisms, promotion of ethical journalism, and enforcement of platform accountability. Officials say the measures are designed not merely to counter false narratives, but to safeguard the fundamental credibility of South Africa’s electoral process.
“We need to ensure public trust,” the GCIS representative concluded.