Safeguarding Information Integrity during Elections with Digital Public Goods

With elections ongoing in India, already held in Bangladesh, Senegal, and Pakistan, and with more scheduled soon in Mexico, South Africa, the United States, and several other countries, more than 2 billion people are set to cast their votes this year. These elections will serve not just as a test for democracy, but also for the ability for facts to prevail among increasing challenges of mis- and disinformation.

Digital platforms, designed to foster connection, have been hijacked to disseminate falsehoods. Previous general elections in countries including the United States, Brazil, Kenya, and India, have already laid bare the global scale and seriousness of the challenge. The rapid rise of ever-more sophisticated deep fakes and other AI-enabled technologies now tears at the very fabric of trust in the idea of election outcomes being guided by informed voters. 

Last year, the DPGA and UNDP led a campaign to demonstrate how DPGs could be utilised to combat information pollution at scale thanks to their ease of adoption and potential to be adapted by stakeholders to meet contextual needs.  

Recognising the challenge that information pollution will undoubtedly pose throughout upcoming elections, the DPGA Secretariat is highlighting some particularly relevant DPGs below. During and beyond election periods, these technologies increase transparency, provide verified data, and enable rigorous monitoring of digital platforms and public discourse, thereby helping to safeguard electoral processes.

CKAN

CKAN is a data management system designed to power data hubs and portals, making it easy to publish, share, and use data. It is supported by DPGA member the Open Knowledge Foundation, and is already utilised by federal governments worldwide, including in Australia, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, and Switzerland. In the context of elections, CKAN has proven to be a key tool for strengthening information integrity.

In November 2023, Argentina completed its electoral cycle to choose it’s next president, a process marred by a significant mis- and disinformation campaign alleging electoral fraud during the general election. These claims were triggered by discrepancies between the polling station information and what was typed in the provisional vote counting system, which led some to declare that votes had been stolen. The National Electoral Directorate of Argentina, using CKAN, played a critical role in countering these claims by providing open access to electoral data. By making this data publicly available, Argentine civil society and media were able to access quality information that debunked the misinformation circulating on social media. This access proved critical for journalists and activists dedicated to upholding the integrity of the electoral process.

Open Terms Archive

Open Terms Archive, incubated within the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and maintained by a distributed community, is a repository that tracks and archives changes to the terms of service and other policies of major digital platforms. The creation of Open Terms Archive was motivated by the need to hold digital platforms accountable for their policies and practices, especially those that can have a significant impact on public discourse and democratic processes.

During the French presidential and legislative elections of 2022, a dedicated instance of Open Terms Archive was established to monitor the documentation for the five most utilised social media platforms in France. This initiative aimed to identify changes that could affect the elections, emphasising the importance of transparent and consistent platform policies. By providing insights into how these platforms manage content, particularly regarding misinformation and disinformation, Open Terms Archive helped those who work to safeguard the electoral process from undue influence.

Open Terms Archive is now also focusing on generative AI services. This effort, in collaboration with law school Sciences Po, aims to identify changes in platform policies, including those that could impact election integrity. The project is currently seeking funding to extend its monitoring to cover Very Large Online Platforms in multiple languages, ensuring that policy changes are consistently applied across jurisdictions.

Querido Diario

Querido Diário, developed by Open Knowledge Brasil, is a platform designed to increase transparency and access to public policies. It serves as a central repository for official municipal decisions to be posted. Previously these policies were only available in a limited manner such as being printed in local newspapers. With Querido Diario, they are now freely available in an open, user-friendly format, complete with a public API. By providing direct access to official information, it facilitates informed public discourse and helps dispel rumours that can undermine elections.

The platform’s impact on information integrity has been demonstrated through its use in discussions and debates on a range of policy areas, including post-pandemic cultural policies, public health related to dengue fever, and digital governance. In preparation for the upcoming elections in Brazil, Open Knowledge Brasil aims to expand Querido Diario’s reach to at least a thousand cities, focusing on increasing its presence in less populated areas. This expansion will facilitate broader informed participation in political discourse and enhance information integrity relating to several election hot topics.

Uwazi

Uwazi, developed by HURIDOCS, is a flexible database platform designed for human rights defenders to manage collections of information, including documents, evidence, cases, and complaints. In the context of elections and information integrity, Uwazi was used by CIMAC to document attacks against female journalists in Mexico, with particular attention to these incidents during electoral periods. This documentation helps raise awareness of the security risks journalists face and underscores the need for greater protection.

Uwazi was also utilised to establish the Election Judgments database, which compiles national judicial decisions related to electoral processes and outcomes from around the world. Created by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and built on Uwazi, this database serves as a resource for judges, election professionals, policymakers, and researchers who are working to resolve disputes and prevent violations for more credible elections globally.

Additionally, Uwazi has been used to track hate speech, violence-related language, and misinformation spreading on platforms like X and Facebook during past elections in India. This tracking has enabled partners to create a database that traces problematic patterns, allowing them to better research and address these issues head-on.

Feluda

Feluda analyses data collected from social media, including images, text, and videos. This tool is versatile. It has been used to identify trends and narratives across various languages and to surface fact-checked content corresponding to images and videos. This year, Feluda is being deployed by Tattle Civic Tech, the developers of Feluda, in a dashboard for the Deepfakes Analysis Unit. The Deepfakes Analysis Unit was started by MCA with support from Meta to provide timely assessments of AI generated audio and video. The dashboard enables fact checkers, forensics experts and technical research labs to collaborate on evidence to assess authenticity of content.

All content submitted through the WhatsApp tipline is funnelled into a dashboard where verification experts and fact checkers can triage, prioritise, and collaboratively work to clarify and respond to user inquiries. This dashboard leverages Feluda to automate replies to posts that have been verified and to cluster similar content for efficient analysis. Additionally, Feluda aids the platform’s ability to respond to content in multiple languages and serves as a crucial tool in identifying AI-generated content.

Ushahidi

The Ushahidi Platform is used for crowd-sourced mapping and data collection, and has played a pivotal role in enhancing transparency and accountability in elections across the globe, notably during the 2022 Kenya general elections. Their 2022 initiative, known as ‘Uchaguzi 2022,’ helped to monitor and address the spread of false information that surged during the tallying of presidential election results, leading to speculative narratives that threatened to undermine the electoral process.

In preparation for elections this year, Ushahidi has worked on significant adaptations to improve its election monitoring capabilities. Recognising the importance of analysing pre- and post-election dynamics, Ushahidi has partnered with the Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralised Web to make historical election datasets from Kenya available for comparison and trend analysis. Furthermore, the Ushahidi team is working with organisations in three countries in 2024 to assist with deployments during the election. They are also developing an Election Toolkit to support organisations seeking to conduct effective election monitoring. This toolkit will include customisable templates, guides, and training materials tailored to empower organisations in utilising the Ushahidi Platform independently.

Ushahidi is also advancing its platform by integrating AI-powered tools designed to streamline data processing. These enhancements aim to collect and analyse election-related information more efficiently, focusing on security incidents, citizen sentiments, and the spread of misinformation and disinformation.