The Electoral Commission (IEC) has signed an agreement with Google, Meta, Microsoft, TikTok and the non-profit Moxii Africa to counter election disinformation before the 4 November local government elections.
The agreement follows a similar framework the commission signed with the platforms before the 2024 national and provincial elections, according to a statement carried by SAnews, the government news agency. It sits beside a Disinformation Code that the commission gazetted on 4 September 2026 for these elections. Parties, candidates and people working for them must follow it, and breaches draw the penalties set by the Electoral Code of Conduct.
The agreement commits the partners to act in good faith until the vote and to stay within existing law. Platforms are not required to hand over confidential user data. A working group will meet, awareness campaigns will run, and parties and candidates will be trained to recognise disinformation. Each platform keeps its own rules and can remove content, attach an advisory warning or delist a post.
Complaints go through Real411, the platform the commission has designated. Anyone can report suspected election disinformation at real411.org.za or in the Real411 app, in any of the 11 official languages. Real411 reviews each complaint on its own and then recommends a response to the commission and the platforms.
Once it has looked at a complaint, the commission has three options. It can go to the Electoral Court, which can impose sanctions. It can pass the complaint to the platform concerned, which is expected to give commission referrals priority. Or it can put out a statement correcting the false claim.
Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo said the partnership gives the commission “direct access to the platforms”. He said it “enables instantaneous remedial action against disinformation peddlers”.
The partners said their own policies and tools against disinformation stay in place and will be used alongside the agreement. Microsoft said it would help voters find authoritative election information and counter deceptive AI-generated content. TikTok said its in-app Election Centre and search banners direct users to reliable information. Moxii Africa director William Bird said he was proud to support the effort.
The commission’s guidance on spotting, checking and reporting disinformation is on its website. Special voting takes place on 2 and 3 November, and the commission has said it does not expect the 4 November election date to change. Our report on the commission extending court relief to more parties covers the other change to the ballots, and our politics desk follows the campaign.
