South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile has urged political parties that hold robust debates on social media platforms to uphold ethical standards and refrain from unjust, deceptive or hateful speech, as many African countries head to the polls this year.
“We can run campaigns on social media without being malicious or degrading of both individuals and organisations,” he said.
The Deputy President was delivering a keynote address, on Tuesday, at the launch of the ‘Principles and guidelines for the use of digital and social media in African elections’ in Johannesburg.
“The reality is that the political environment during elections is tense and volatile, and we should use social media with responsibility to ensure that the content we share is credible and accurate.”
READ MORE: IEC welcomes declaration of 2024 General Elections date.
Mashatile’s remarks came just a few days after president of the Economic Freedom fighters (EFF), Mr. Julius Malema assured his followers on X that no election is going to be rigged.
Malema warned that the rhetoric of predetermined outcome in the 2024 General Elections is extremely dangerous.
“We heard before that people have intelligent information about this or that without producing anything material even at a point where we thought something would give; nothing came forward. Not now, we have listened to this nonsensical story of “information came” for far too long and it won’t work this time around,” he said.
The possibility of vote rigging has been raised by several party leaders, including newcomers such as the leader of African Transformation Congress (ACT) Ace Magashule, who publicly claimed that the IEC was not immune to rigging votes in favour of the ANC.
The former ANC Secretary General even hinted that the Electoral Commission had, in fact, rigged elections before.
Meanwhile, the newly launched principles and guidelines seek to create awareness among election management bodies (EMBs) on the benefits and threats of digital and social media to the electoral process and integrity. Deputy President Mashatile described them as groundbreaking for Africa.
The launch coincides with heightened election activity around the continent, with over 20 African Union Member States, including South Africa, preparing for general elections.
This, Mashatile said, provides an opportunity for fine-tuning the regulatory and operational protocols for the use of social media during this period.
“We will, therefore, continue to uphold the right to free and fair elections in this election and thereafter, as we have done since 1994,” he said.
In the fast-paced digital world of today, Mashatile emphasized that it was important to recognise the critical role that social media plays in shaping people’s opinions and establishing the narratives propelled during elections.