After conducting comprehensive research and interviews across 8 African countries–including Nigeria, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Senegal and Tanzania– RIA, The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) and the Alliance for Access to Data (AAAD) developed practical guidelines to support electoral information integrity in Africa.
Working with stakeholders such as Election Management Bodies (EMBs), political actors, journalists, fact-checkers and civil society organisations (CSOs), these guidelines aimed to improve the quality of, and access to, public interest information, which frequently falls under threat during election periods.
The guidelines consider the challenges and impact of data transparency, data literacy, cybersecurity risks, content manipulation and the impact of AI and emerging technologies on the information ecosystem. Through a variety of regulatory mechanisms and data governance principles, it provides clear action points to facilitate enhanced data access for EMBs, media, fact-checkers, and civil society organisations, who can play a major role in debunking mis and disinformation across multiple levels with the right resources.
