FEO announces establishment of the Centre for Credible Election Information

The Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem has announced the establishment of their Centre for Credible Election Information to counter misinformation and engineered disinformation.

Saneem says during the 2018 General Election, the FEO as well as the Multinational Observer Group had noted with concern some instances of social media pages being created and intentionally used to proliferate misinformation.

He says while the Observer Group commended the Fijian electoral authorities for its efforts to identify these sites which was mostly on Facebook, and have them removed, Saneem says they will be going one step further to the counter misinformation through the establishment of the Centre for Credible Election Information.

He adds the objectives of the Centre are to, produce and publish information on the 2022 General Election and support the Fijian Elections Office publications framework in terms of dissemination of credible election information.

Saneem says it is also to actively provide clarifications and responses to information that is either misleading or incorrect in relation to the election processes and work with agencies to remove misinformation from various platforms including the application of Section 144 of the Electoral Act 2014.

Saneem says as per Section 144A.-(1) of the Electoral Act 2014, a person or a political party must not publish any information in or outside Fiji and is accessible in Fiji, knowing or having reason to believe the information is a false statement which is likely to influence the outcome of an election or diminish public confidence in the performance of any duty or function of the Supervisor and the Electoral Commission.

He highlighted that Section 144 (A) (2) empowers the Supervisor to direct a person, including a service provider, or a political party to remove or correct any statement or information published under subsection (1) and the person must immediately remove or correct the statement or information.

The Supervisor says following the establishment of the Centre, the FEO will embark on a national campaign to raise awareness and educate Fijians on countering misinformation, false news and disinformation especially those propagated through social media ahead of the 2022 General Election.

Saneem says it is widely accepted that one of the best ways to counter misinformation is through publication of credible information. This section in the FEO will carry this specific mandate.

Saneem adds that the FEO is now building a team to oversee the establishment and operation of the Centre.