EP 12: “How can we protect information integrity in elections?” | We chat with Prof. Vukosi Marivate

In the 12th episode of the official IEC podcast, host Kea Ncube sits down with Professor Vukosi Marivate, Professor of Computer Science and the ABSA UP Chair of Data Science at the University of Pretoria, where he leads the Data Science for Social Impact research group. His work focuses on artificial intelligence, machine learning and the use of data science to address societal challenges. Prof Marivate breaks down the various factors through which disinformation is sown and spread, and the challenges faced by researchers in establishing safeguards against the kind of disinformation campaigns that have become a core problem in elections. This episode gives viewers a comprehensive breakdown of the various ways misinformation and disinformation spread online, the environment that gives rise to the scourge on information integrity online, and a few ways in which the average user can be equipped to not only spot deceptive content online, but to become part of the movement to put a stop to it. --------- 00:00 - Introduction 00:51 - Vukosi Marivate, Professor of Computer Science, ABSA UP Chair of Data Science at UP 01:32 - What is information integrity? 03:17 - Information warfare 04:58 - Major changes in the digital environment since 2017 10:21 - Digital platforms and risks of disinformation and misinformation 11:55 - Malinformation 12:09 - The evolution of Generative AI bots 13:38 - How to spot disinformation and misinformation 16:30 - Implications of false narratives on the election environment 19:46 - Significance of information integrity in elections 23:57 - Platformization 27:03 - IEC Disinformation Code of Conduct 33:31 - Possibilities of monitoring and detecting mis-/dis- & malinformation 36:21 - How platforms such as Real 411 combat mis-/disinformation in elections 39:59 - Possible implementation of real-time monitoring of mis-/disinformation 43:22 - Insights into the Real 411 user interface 45:46 - Potential research and development innovations on information integrity 47:47 - South Africans' role in the protection of information integrity in elections 50:38 - Call to action to South Africans for online information verification 53:02 - Outro