Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) research group leader in cybersecurity Dr Zubeida Dawood noted on Tuesday that the use of disinformation poses a serious threat to the upcoming elections, by manipulating public opinion and potentially influencing the election outcome.

Dawood was speaking during a CSIR media briefing on combatting fake news and misinformation during elections, where she said that it was crucial for voters to be vigilant and discerning in the face of potential manipulation.

She noted that social media played a significant role in the rapid spread of disinformation, owing to its wide user reach and viral nature, urging strengthened cybersecurity measures in advanced technologies to detect manipulated content.

She added that this could be possible through collaboration between government, technology companies, research institutes and universities, as well as resiliently working against disinformation.

University of Pretoria Data Science for Social Impact research group's Professor Vukosi Marivate noted that there were major changes in access to social media data, saying policies and regulation needed to be available to allow researchers access to the data.

He said social media and information dissemination was worth understanding and studying, particularly a need to study mis/disinformation on the African continent and understanding gaps in South Africa’s current policy making.

Meanwhile, with the country’s elections relying heavily on secure digital infrastructure, Dawood noted that CSIR's Mzansi advanced cybersecurity learning factory could empower the country’s Independent Electoral Commission’s (IEC’s) workers and officials by equipping them with training on how to prevent phishing attacks and malware infections that can manipulate election data.

“…so building a skilled cybersecurity workforce is key, and the Mzansi advanced cybersecurity learning factory can cultivate a pool of cybersecurity professionals who can safeguard election systems against evolving threats,” she said.

HUMAN-CENTRIC FRAMEWORK

She announced that the CSIR had developed a human-centric framework for detecting fake news, which she said would be available to the public soon.

She said the framework was still in its research stages, noting that it was important for researchers to package it in a way that average South Africans could consume it.

She highlighted that a human-centric framework fostered trust by engaging communities directly, encouraging dialogue and leveraging local knowledge to verify information.

“…once we get the work published in our articles we are working on creating more public consumption, probably in a month or two it will be out there for the public,” she explained.

She highlighted that at the moment the framework was English-based, however, the CSIR was collaborating with colleagues from the University of Pretoria and University of Cape Town for natural language processing.

Dawood noted that the organisation recognised that technological tools may lack cultural nuance but human judgment can interpret information for diverse cultural backgrounds, ensuring accuracy in identifying misinformation.