Surfing the internet means riding waves of disinformation. The Independent Electoral Commission’s (IEC) disinformation code seeks to address this with a 36-hour correction rule, but Yolanda Yalezo questions whether this is the correct tool.
The disinformation code requires political parties, candidates and their representatives to verify information before sending it out. They are also required to retract and correct misleading information within 36 hours of becoming aware of it.
“We feel that 36 hours is not fast enough to slow down the spread of misleading information,” says Right2Know’s national communication co-ordinator, “but at the same time it is too slow for it to be fair.”
“Something can trend in two minutes. You can post something in the morning and by lunchtime everybody already knows it.” On the other hand, “36 hours might not even be a consequence for people, so long as they get that information out there,” she told Salaamedia on Thursday.
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Image via The Conversation.
