Political parties and candidates will now have 36 hours to publicly correct false or misleading election claims under new rules introduced ahead of South Africa’s 4 November local government elections.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa has promulgated a new Disinformation Code aimed at protecting the integrity of the electoral process and ensuring voters have access to credible information.
The rules apply to parties, candidates and anyone acting on their behalf, whether content is shared online or offline.
False claims must be corrected quickly
Under the Code, political parties and candidates must check information before distributing it and take responsibility for content published by them or on their behalf.
If false or misleading information is identified, they must publicly retract and correct it within 36 hours of becoming aware of it.
The IEC also requires parties to act against those responsible where appropriate.
The Code bans the use of fake accounts, bot networks, coordinated inauthentic behaviour, doxing and cyberbullying.
Suspected online disinformation must also be reported to Real411 within 36 hours.
AI election content must be labelled
The new rules also cover artificial intelligence.
Election-related content created using AI or other synthetic tools must be clearly labelled before distribution.
Political advertising must also identify who is responsible for it.
The IEC said these requirements are intended to make it easier for voters to understand where campaign material comes from and whether content has been artificially generated.
Political debate still protected
The Commission stressed that the Code is not intended to shut down legitimate political criticism.
Lawful opinion, commentary, satire, parody, fair reporting and democratic debate remain protected.
The rules also prohibit disinformation targeting the IEC or its staff and require political parties and candidates to correct such claims publicly.
Parties are expected to educate members and supporters about the Code and support media literacy and voter education.
The Disinformation Code forms part of the Electoral Code of Conduct and was introduced under the Local Government: Municipal Electoral Act.
Breaches will carry the same sanctions that apply to other violations of the Electoral Code of Conduct.