By Janine Erasmus
If there’s one overarching take-away from 2024 in terms of mis- and disinformation, it’s that Big Tech cannot be trusted to be a custodian of the truth.
Twenty 24 was a monumental year in several respects. In environmental terms, it was the hottest year ever experienced. In democratic terms, the Elon Musk/X vs Brazil saga proved that nobody should be above the law. In political terms, the largest number of countries in history held elections for their various forms of government. In digital terms, Big Tech threatened each one of those elections with a deluge of misinformation, disinformation, online abuse, and the unprecedented use of AI-generated material.
Electorially speaking, it was a tough year for incumbents, with some losing their seats of power altogether and others forced to enter into coalition governments. The big elections, the ones that drew much of the world’s attention, were those of powerful and/or influential countries, such as the US, UK, Russia, and India. For us, of course, the South African national election was equally important, being a particularly significant and crucial test for our young democracy because of the promise of a different outcome to that of the past 30 years. It too was tainted by the extravagant use of AI and fake news in blatant attempts to mislead voters – but the South African public is starting to get wise to these tricks and to a large extent did not allow them to influence their voting choice.
In India, the world’s biggest election in terms of numbers and duration produced as surprising a result as did the election at home in terms of governing parties losing their absolute majorities. Both elections were marred by the spread of misinformation and disinformation. In India, campaigns openly targeted Muslim Indians and other non-Hindu residents – the London Story’s Vote Jihad Report shows how social media platforms, especially Facebook, were the channels through which disinformation was spread.
In the US, Donald Trump rode back into power on a wave of fake news, anti-democratic rhetoric and openly chummy relationships with controversial billionaires who funded his campaign. Trump’s 10-day-old (at the time of writing) second term has already revealed the manner in which he intends to govern.
Elsewhere in the US, incidents such as the infamous Trump narrative about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, eating local pets and public park ducks would have been funny if it did not so tragically expose the lengths that some people will go to to grab power, as well as the blind loyalty or ignorance of those who follow such people. Disinformation was not only of domestic origin, because in certain cases the fake material was found to have originated from Russia.
In Russia, Vladimir Putin’s victory to claim a third successive term, and fifth overall, surprised nobody, especially after the mysterious death of his fiercest opponent Alexei Navalny in a Siberian prison mere weeks before Russians went to the polls. The Russian president is so enamoured of power that in 2021 he amended the country’s laws to allow him to serve two more terms by resetting the number of terms he has already served to zero and extending his stay in office potentially to 2036.
And in the UK, the Labour Party’s Keir Starmer became prime minister in an election with the lowest voter turnout in 20 years, and one which ended 14 years of Conservative Party rule. But this was eclipsed by the outcome in Botswana, where the Botswana Democratic Party lost power for the first time in 58 years, proving that election drama can happen anywhere.
The local situation
In South Africa, as expected during the madness of election season, voters were entertained by the antics of campaigners and their supporters. The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK Party) must get an (dis)honourable mention here for sharing, among others, an AI deepfake of Donald Trump appearing to canvass for the party and hilariously, appearing not only to be perfectly serious about its veracity but to believe that other parties would consider it a threat.
There were more sinister occurrences – Duke University assistant professor Shelley Liu, commenting on the use of mis- and disinformation in South Africa’s elections, revealed that MK was not satisfied merely with fake-Trump’s support, but some known pro-Russia accounts on X also took to campaigning for the party. X, of course, has become more and more known as a welcoming home for far-right and extremist views, and Zuma’s former party, the ANC, has ties with Russia that go back to the days of apartheid and the Soviet Union, so this was by all accounts a natural synergy – though one we could have done without.
“During elections, disinformation’s effects may be magnified,” said Liu. “More people are sending and receiving more political information on social media, polarisation may increase the effectiveness of disinformation, and disinformation supply from both domestic and external actors may increase.”
Apparently channeling Donald Trump, the MK Party also continues to insist that the elections were stolen, that vote-rigging was rife, and that it received 9-million fewer votes than it should have had.
Other instances of disinformation, among many, included one widely shared claim that people who didn’t vote in the elections would automatically be counted as a vote for the ANC. But as the Independent Electoral Committee (IEC) stated, only valid votes can be counted, therefore this untrue claim was easily disproved. Further, the Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change noted some concerning trends targeting the media and journalists, and aspersions cast on the IEC’s integrity.
Organisations such as Africa Check, the Daily Maverick, the Campaign On Digital Ethics (CODE), and Media Monitoring Africa through its Real411 website, all put in a determined effort to educate and protect the voting public from misleading information.
In the end, the election lived up to the predictions that it would change South Africa’s political landscape. Time will tell if those changes will be for the better, or not.
Big Tech comes into play
In all of these events, Big Tech enabled, and continues to enable, the spread of misinformation by providing a platform for such posts to be easily spread, and by failing to moderate the content that is shared. This is worrying, because billions of people use these platforms daily as a news source.
Disinformation campaigns abounded, as did AI-generated pictures, videos, and narratives – all purposefully designed to sway voters, twist perceptions, cause divisions and polarisation, undermine public trust, disadvantage certain population groups, and make people believe negative stories about various candidates.
Nobel laureate Maria Ressa, speaking in Johannesburg in November 2023, warned of the disruptive influence of disinformation and Big Tech on democracy. “Technology, once seen as a great equaliser, is now a weapon wielded against the very foundations of democracy.”
Agreeing with Ressa, South Africa’s Legal Resources Centre (LRC) said recently: “In an age where billions rely on online platforms for news and political discourse, companies like Google, Meta, and TikTok have found themselves at the forefront of democracy. With a rising tide of false information threatening to distort electoral outcomes, these platforms’ responses are under increasing scrutiny.”
The LRC scrutinised the big platforms’ respective strategies to safeguard democratic processes, but found them wanting “in key areas, particularly when it comes to post-election reviews, transparency, and proactive disinformation countermeasures”. One of the factors contributing to the weaknesses is “their vagueness regarding moderation practices, especially in Global South countries like South Africa”.
Whether it’s AI-generated fake news, manipulated political ads, or outright hoaxes, says LRC, “the capacity of online platforms to swiftly detect, evaluate, and neutralise such threats is being put to the test”.
CODE’s research into the local elections revealed alarming levels of micro-targeting, unproven allegations against organisations and individuals supporting democracy, and the prevalence of Big Lies (distortions of the truth, aimed at spreading propaganda and dangerous information). In its latest report titled Subverting Truth for Power, the organisation shows that a concerning lack of digital literacy exists among the South African populace, and that combating disinformation will take an “all-of-society” approach, with stakeholders like the IEC, government, all social media platforms, civil society, and media collaborating to create a more resilient information ecosystem.
The LRC echoes this sentiment. “The battle against disinformation cannot be fought by platforms alone. Governments, civil society, and international bodies all have a role to play in safeguarding electoral integrity.”
What to do
South Africa goes to the polls again next year, for the local government elections. With that in mind, it’s wise to arm ourselves ahead of time with the necessary weapons to spot and counter disinformation. CODE has published extensively on how to recognise fake news and stay safe online, including maintaining our mental health while consuming online news.
Here are some more hints from philanthropic organisation Konrad Adenauer Stiftung:
Verify the source: Always check the credibility of the source before accepting any information as true.
Look for original reporting: Disinformation often relies on second-hand accounts or misinterpretations.
Check the facts: Use fact-checking websites and services to verify the authenticity of the information.
Watch out for the politics: Beware of disinformation spread by political parties or figures.
Diversify your information consumption: Social media algorithms are designed to show you content similar to what you've previously engaged with, which can create echo chambers that reinforce your existing beliefs.
Be wary of emotional appeals: Disinformation often uses strong emotional appeals to manipulate readers.
Understand the context: Information taken out of context can be misleading.
Educate yourself and others: Raising awareness about the dangers of disinformation is crucial. Educate yourself and others about how to identify and counter false information.
Twenty 24 was a challenging year as far as fake news and democratic resilience is concerned. But on the positive side, our democracy at least has held firm, and many of us know more about mis- and disinformation than we did before, so we’re now mindful of the need to stay vigilant and check what’s being reported on before we share it.
It’s crucial that we keep this momentum going throughout 2025 and 2026, and beyond – democracy itself is relying on us.
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