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INSIDE EXPRESSION: FEBRUARY 2024
SUPER ELECTION YEAR: ACCURATE INFORMATION HAS NEVER BEEN MORE IMPORTANT –
OR MORE AT RISK
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2024 has been dubbed ‘Super Election Year’: half the world’s
population will go to the polls.
During elections, everyone has the right to accurate, reliable, clear
information about candidates, parties, and policies so they can decide who
to vote for.
Yet across the globe, authoritarian leaders are undermining people’s
ability to exercise their rights at the ballot box. From censoring the
internet to disseminating deepfakes, in a conniving attempt to cling onto
power, they are increasingly trying to stop voters from accessing reliable
information.
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Vladmir Putin’s efforts to control what people think and know in RUSSIA
(and beyond) have a long history. Over the last 2 years, the Kremlin has
embraced disinformation and war propaganda [2] to defend its full-scale
invasion of Ukraine, disseminating doctored reports, fabricated social
media posts, and deepfakes. In the run-up to Russia’s election on 17
March, campaigns using similar tactics are taking shape.
As in 2016 and 2020, Russian interference in the November presidential
election in the UNITED STATES is also likely to be intense. Recent WIRED
[3] reports reveal Russian disinformation campaigns claiming that civil war
is imminent in the US, using the current crisis on the Mexico–Texas
border to sow its narrative.
[4]
ELECTIONS LOOM: HOW WILL AI AFFECT THEIR INTEGRITY?
In 2016, countries like Russia had entire troll farms pushing
disinformation across the world. But today anyone can do it.
As Eddie Perez, former Head of Election Integrity at Twitter, tells
_Techtonic_ podcast host Chris Stokel-Walker, the democratisation of
disinformation is here – and the impact is profound.
Listen on Apple Podcast
Listen on Spotify
Listen on Amazon Podcasts
AS WE CAN SEE, THE PROBLEM IS NOT CONFINED TO AUTOCRATIC RULERS.
POLITICIANS IN DEMOCRATIC COUNTRIES ARE INCREASINGLY ADOPTING THE SAME
TACTICS, POSING GRAVE THREATS TO OUR RIGHT TO KNOW, TO THE INTEGRITY OF
ELECTIONS, AND TO DEMOCRACY ITSELF.
It’s perhaps no surprise to hear that former US President Donald Trump
continues to use disinformation to his benefit. But recent revelations that
a consultant working for a Democrat candidate [5] admitted to creating an
audio clip of President Joe Biden reveal the level of political influence
manufactured media can have.
Meanwhile, in INDIA, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata
Party are repeatedly failing to honour their responsibilities. They have
been quick to weaponise disinformation, including to undermine the
farmers’ protest movement and delegitimise their demands, sending
shockwaves around the world. With an election set for April, political
analysts point to routine failures to uphold democratic checks and
balances, amid reports of brazen vote-rigging [6] and campaigns to
undermine voters who don’t support the ruling party.
THESE EXAMPLES ARE AN URGENT REMINDER OF THE NEED FOR VOTERS WORLDWIDE TO
BE ABLE TO SEPARATE TRUTH FROM FICTION IN ORDER TO CAST AN INFORMED VOTE.
Businesses, including social media companies, have obligations to us at
election time: they must address any of their practices that may incite
violence or undermine people’s right to vote, such as the spread of
electoral disinformation. Ultimately, however, governments are responsible
for guaranteeing our right to accurate election information.
> SO HOW CAN WE – AS VOTERS, CIVIL SOCIETY, AND MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
> – STRENGTHEN OUR DEMOCRACIES AND MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD?
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INSPIRATION FROM CIVIL SOCIETY IN MEXICO
ARTICLE 19 and regional experts anticipate that MEXICO’S election, to be
held on 2 June, will be marred by violence, corruption, and impunity. The
government is also likely to control what information people can access
online. In this context, journalists’ work is crucial to helping people
cast an informed vote.
That’s why, ahead of the election, ARTICLE 19’s Mexico and Central
America office has created a toolkit [7] to help journalists and activists
deal with unfair content removals during elections.
The toolkit:
* Analyses the terms and conditions, community standards, and policies of
the 5 most popular digital platforms in Mexico;
* Maps out potential censorship threats and the institutions with the
power to request content takedowns; and
* Identifies strategies that human rights defenders and journalists can
use to confront these takedowns.
While this toolkit is particularly valuable for journalists and activists,
all of us can use it to stand up for our right to information online.
ACCESS THE TOOLKIT [7]
INSPIRATION FROM PROTESTERS IN SENEGAL
On 15 February, shortly before people in SENEGAL were due to cast their
votes, President Macky Sall announced he was postponing elections by a
staggering 10 months. The move prompted widespread protests in which police
killed 3 people, including a 16-year-old boy.
Journalists, activists, and opposition figures quickly galvanised, calling
for the government to reverse its decision. Days later, this pressure paid
off: the country’s top court ruled that Sall’s move was
unconstitutional, showing the power of people raising their voices
together.
It’s a reminder, too, that Senegal’s reputation as one of Africa’s
most stable democracies still holds true, despite the profound political
challenges the country currently faces.
INSPIRATION FROM POLITICIANS IN PAKISTAN
After reports of vote rigging in local elections in PAKISTAN, the winning
candidate, Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman, refused to take his seat, demanding
instead that democratic integrity be upheld.
> _'Public opinion should be respected, let the winner win, let the loser
> lose, no one should get anything extra.’_
>
> _– Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman_
> _(Pakistani politician)_
INSPIRATION FROM PARTNERSHIPS IN TAIWAN
In January, despite being up against China – one of the world’s most
sophisticated disinformation operatives – TAIWAN elected the Democratic
Progressive Party: the very outcome Beijing was trying to prevent.
In the run-up to the elections, Taiwan’s civic tech community created
fact-checking chatbots, media-literacy workshops, and
disinformation-disrupting hackathons. The government supported their work
and embraced radical transparency to guarantee voters’ right to know.
All in all, Taiwan set an incredible example [8] of how, when society
unites – public sector, private sector, and the people – digital
democracy can prevail against digital authoritarianism.
As these examples show, when we raise our voices together, we can
successfully defend our right to comprehensive, accurate, reliable
information – which is essential to defending democracy itself.
THIS SUPER ELECTION YEAR, IF YOU WANT TO PROTECT YOUR RIGHT TO CLEAR
AND CREDIBLE INFORMATION, INVEST IN FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION TODAY
GIVE NOW
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