Ahead of the 2026 Local Government Elections, the Electoral Commission (IEC) introduced the Electoral Code of Conduct on Countering Disinformation. The Code applies to political parties and candidates contesting the election and sets out what they may and may not do when it comes to spreading false or misleading information, online and offline, from the date it took effect until the election results are declared.

The IEC uses the Real411 platform for reporting of disinformation once spotted. The platform is administered by Moxii Africa, which has the requisite capacity to independently investigate complaints of disinformation, and recommend remediation to the IEC and digital platforms.

For its part, the IEC considers the Real411 reports and does one of two things. Firstly, it could issue communication on its social media platforms flagging the same information as disinformation, or issue official statements correcting the wrong information. Secondly, it could make recommendations to the Electoral Court to consider the matter and to impose sanctions on transgressors where the Code is breached.

What is disinformation?

Disinformation is information that’s false or misleading, shared by someone who knows it isn’t true – or has no reasonable basis for believing it is – with the intention of misleading voters or disrupting the election. It’s different from misinformation, which is false information shared without that intent, often just because someone didn’t check before hitting send.

Either way, the damage is the same: bad information travels fast, and it can affect how – or whether – people vote.

This doesn’t include satire, opinion, fair criticism or genuine political debate. Calling out a party or candidate, even harshly, isn’t disinformation. What we're talking about is content that's deliberately false.

What it looks like

Some of the most common forms ahead of this election:

• False claims about voting dates, times, venues, or who’s allowed to vote
• Fake statements or announcements wrongly attributed to the IEC or its staff
• Scams that pose as the IEC – fake job adverts are a common one
• Manipulated or artificial intelligence (AI) generated (“synthetic”) images, audio or video used to mislead
• Fake accounts or bot networks designed to make a view look more popular than it is
• Someone’s private information shared online without consent to cause harm, known as doxxing
• Political ads or AI-generated content that isn’t labelled as such

How to tell the difference

Before you share anything election-related, run through this quickly:

• Where did it come from? Check the source. Is it a credible media outlet or the account it claims to be? Look for verified pages and official channels – the IEC’s own updates are posted on elections.org.za and our verified social accounts.
• How does it make you feel? Content designed to mislead is often built to make you angry, scared or anxious, because that’s what makes people share without thinking. If something gives you that reaction, that’s your cue to slow down.
• Can you find it anywhere else? A real story about voting dates, venues or IEC decisions will be reported by more than one credible source. If you can’t find it anywhere except the one post you saw, be cautious.
• Does the image or video look right? Watch for mismatched lighting, unnatural movement, odd hands or blurred edges – common signs of AI-generated or manipulated media.
• Is it labelled? Political advertising and AI-generated content must be clearly marked as such under the Disinformation Code. If it isn’t, and it should be, that's worth reporting.

When in doubt: pause, check, and if you’re still not sure – report rather than share.

How to fact-check information yourself

Go straight to the source. For anything about voting – dates, venues, registration, results – check this website, the IEC WhatsApp Channel, or any of its other social media pages with the handle @IECSouthAfrica.

Search for the claim in a few words and see whether reputable news outlets are covering it too.

Reverse-image-search suspicious photos to see where they first appeared and whether they’ve been used out of context.

Check the account posting it – new accounts, no history, or a name that's almost-but-not-quite an official one are red flags.

Still unsure? Report it to Real411 and let people trained to check it, check it.

What is a reverse image search?

It means searching the internet using an image instead of words, to find out where else it's appeared online, when it was first published, and in what context. This helps you spot photos that have been recycled, cropped, or relabelled to mislead people – for example, an old photo from a different country or event being passed off as current.

How to do it:

Google Images – Go to images.google.com, click the camera icon, and upload the photo or paste its URL. Google shows you other places the image appears online.

TinEye – tineye.com – Built specifically for this. Upload the image, and it shows the earliest known appearance and all matches, sorted by date.

On a phone: long-press the image (or screenshot it) and use the “Search image” option in Google or Chrome.

If the earliest match is from years ago or a different location than claimed, that’s a strong sign the photo is being used out of context.

Where to report election disinformation

If you see something you believe is disinformation related to the 2026 Local Government Elections, report it to Real411 – the independent platform that handles digital election-related complaints.

How to submit a complaint: Go to Real411 to submit a complaint or use the Real411 app. You will need to give your name and contact details – complaints can't be submitted anonymously, but your identity is kept confidential in the outcome. Include a link or screenshot of the content, and as much detail as you can about where and when you saw it.

What happens next:

• Submit – you lodge your complaint through Real411, with supporting evidence.
• Review – the Digital Complaints Committee checks whether it falls within scope.
• Decision – a sub-committee decides on the appropriate action, which may include referral to the IEC, the police, the South African Human Rights Commission, the Press Ombud, or the Electoral Court.
• Notification – you’re told the outcome and guided on how to appeal if relevant.
• Appeal – if you disagree with the decision by the Real411 Digital Complaints Committee, you can approach the Secretariat in writing to lodge an appeal with the Appeals Committee. Submit your appeal listing the complaint ID and your reasons for appeal to: secretariat@real411.org.za

Complaints are handled in all eleven official languages, and outcomes are published once a decision has been reached.

What else you can do about election disinformation

Don’t be the one who spreads it. If content makes you angry or afraid, that's the moment to check it – not share it.

Share the outcome, not just the claim. If you’ve reported something and it's confirmed as disinformation, share that outcome with the people you shared the original post with. Correcting the record matters as much as catching the lie.

Become a disinformation spotter. Becoming a Real411 Rover Spotter means joining a community of digital detectives who help keep South Africa's online spaces safe – by spotting fake news, dodgy posts, hate speech, and disinformation, and helping fact-check the truth.

Your right to speak freely

None of this limits fair comment, satire, opinion or robust political debate – even when it’s unflattering to a party or candidate. The Code targets deliberate falsehoods, not disagreement.