election-watch.eu

Prague, 19 November 2019: At the invitation of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), 20 electoral experts met in Prague to discuss the risks of disinformation in elections and possible countermeasures. The special focus of the event was the communication via social media, disinformation and election integrity, especially in countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

Armin Rabitsch presented the experiences from the social media monitoring of the online election campaign by Election-Watch.EU (wahlbeobachtung.org) in Austria and the findings of the Election-Watch.EU Election Assessment Mission (EAM) regarding the regulation of social media platforms and online campaigning within the EU and its member states.

The participants of the two-day event concluded that disinformation is a global problem that requires a global response. There is considerable technological backlog from electoral authorities and it is important to learn from each other about how to best handle disinformation and protect against negative impact.