Digital frontlines: Analysis of Harmful Content during Elections

On 24 April 2023, as part of the Social Media 4 Peace project funded by the European Union, UNESCO organized a technical virtual technical training on analysis of harmful online content, particularly disinformation and hate speech during elections in Kenya, with the National Coalition on Freedom of Expression and Content Moderation. The training equipped over 30 participants with requisite competencies and skills to identify and reduce impact of harmful content on citizens in Kenya. It also provided a platform for knowledge sharing on the challenging aspects on analysis of online harmful content while exploring existing approaches/mechanisms used to monitor harmful content.

It further provided an interactive forum for election stakeholders to share knowledge and engage in discussions, to share ideas and insights on analysing harmful online content during electoral processes.

The proliferation of disinformation and hate speech has exacerbated to an erosion of public trust threatening and undermining democracies. While giving a presentation on approaches used in social media monitoring, Ms Alice Colombi, Digital Communications Specialist and International Election Observer stated that “With rise of coordinated disinformation, social media analysts and CSOs play a pivotal role in identifying and analysing sources of harmful content during elections”.

She further explained that in today's digital environment, the challenges of addressing online harmful content, particularly disinformation and hate speech requires more understanding of the existing and emerging digital ecosystems including platforms.

Daniel Suarez Perez, Research Associate at the Atlantic Council Digital Forensic Research Lab while giving a presentation on disinformation in digital platforms and its impact on democracies.

He further gave example of Colombia demonstrating how pre-planned coordinated disinformation actions and events preceding elections have had an immense impact on election outcomes in this Latin American country.

Allan Cheboi, Senior Investigative Data Analyst at Code for Africa gave a presentation on strategies used to combat online harmful content in Kenya and Nigeria. He cited fact-checking, network mapping, and conducting a comprehensive analysis of the online environment landscape, “Empowering influencers to address harmful online content and related underlying issues is vital as some are often are vulnerable for hire to propagate coordinated disinformation actions during elections. This may prevent propagation of harmful content and discourage those who fund them from promoting disinformation.”

He further acknowledged that it's important to leverage the power of micro and nano influencers and encourage them to create content that fights disinformation and promotes messages of peace. Stating that their influence online environment is on the rise.

Adeline Hulin, Project Coordinator at UNESCO Liaison Office in Brussels emphasized on the need for stakeholders to have a common methodological approach for flagging and tackling online harmful content on social media platforms.

The workshop brought together over 30 participants drawn from Kenyan regulatory bodies, electoral commission, media organizations/association, peacebuilding organizations, Civil Society Organizations, and fact-checking organizations that work around promotion of freedom of expression, media development, peace building and conflict prevention issues in Kenya.