2024 Elections: NAB attends Parliamentary symposium on misinformation and disinformation

Yesterday, 29 August 2023, the NAB participated in a symposium hosted by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technology at Tshedimosetso House in Pretoria. Delegates from GCIS, DCDT, IEC, ICASA and the SABC were also in attendance.

The event sought to identify challenges contributing to misinformation and disinformation during elections in South Africa with a view to curbing these as the country goes to the polls next year.

NAB Executive Director Nadia Bulbulia briefed the audience on the work of the organisation and its aim to advance the interests of the broadcasting sector. She explained that NAB members operate in a regulated environment.

“Our members are highly regulated. All of them adhere to ICASA regulations and licence conditions, they also adhere to the BCCSA’s Codes of Conduct on Free-to-Air and Subscription broadcasting services, and the recently-launched BCCSA Code of Conduct for Online Content Services,” Bulbulia said.

NAB Head of Legal and Regulatory Affairs Julia Sham-Guild shared key legislation on regulations related to election, saying: “ICASA is required to review their election broadcasting regulations to assess their relevance during election year."

"ICASA are the body that allocate Party Election Broadcast airtime slots and all political advertising must conform to ICASA’s technical specifications and standards. Any complaints related to these adverts must be lodged with ICASA”.

The Portfolio Committee is expected to produce an oversight report on policy and regulatory imperatives for free and fair 2024 national elections after the symposium comes to an end today.