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The potential impact of information disorders on the 2024 elections

Friday, January 12, 2024 | 1350 Views |

In the field: Distinguishing misinformation and disinformation has become a central challenge for the profession and its audience, particularly around elections PIC PHATSIMO KAPENG

Botswana will be going to the polls later this year. Political parties, voters as well as other stakeholders are gearing up for this special day. A lot is already happening on the ground as D-Day slowly beckons. As is characteristic of any election year, campaigning for the elections is already underway, taking different forms both online and offline.

While we must happy that in this era of digital technology, information becomes easily available, but on the other hand we must be wary that the integrity of such information and communications systems is largely compromised by the proliferation of fake news.

Notwithstanding that in some instances fake news may be unwittingly shared without any intention to cause harm (misinformation), the increasing spread of information which is shared to inflict harm on individuals and institutions (disinformation) threatens processes such as elections and democracy.

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