IEC Warns of Generative AI and Hyper-Local Disinformation Risks Before Local Elections

As South Africa prepares for the 2026 Local Government Elections, the rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) presents a significant new challenge to electoral integrity, with officials warning of increasingly sophisticated disinformation campaigns targeted at specific communities.

Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) Chairperson Mosotho Moepya has sounded the alarm about a concerning shift in electoral disinformation tactics. Speaking at a strategic dialogue in Cape Town on Wednesday, Moepya highlighted how the threat landscape is evolving from broad national misinformation to more dangerous “hyper-local” deception.

“The primary challenge of 2026 is the rise of Generative AI and its application in ‘hyper-local’ contexts. We are seeing a shift from broad national untruths to ward-specific deceptions,” Moepya told attendees at the “Countering Disinformation, Safeguarding Local Democracy” event.

The dialogue, hosted by the Institute of Security Studies in collaboration with several European diplomatic missions, brought together political representatives, lawmakers, international experts, government officials, local government representatives, and media organizations to address this growing threat to democratic processes.

Of particular concern is what the South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) anticipates will be a “flurry of deepfakes” during the upcoming municipal elections. These sophisticated AI-generated fake videos, images, and audio files can create convincingly realistic but entirely fabricated content that appears to show public figures saying or doing things they never did.

Moepya identified several vulnerabilities in the electoral process that are particularly susceptible to disinformation campaigns. These include the voters’ roll, the transportation of ballot boxes, and the manual tallying of votes at polling stations—all processes with human elements that can be easily misrepresented to sow doubt and confusion.

“Disinformation targets these points because they involve human elements that can be misrepresented,” he explained.

In response to these evolving threats, the IEC is implementing a comprehensive strategy for the 2026 elections. Key elements include direct-to-citizen verification tools that will allow voters to confirm their ward boundaries and registration status through zero-rated digital portals, making verification accessible even to those with limited internet access.

The Commission is also establishing “Rapid-Response Pathways” that will connect local community radio stations and youth networks directly to fact-checking hubs. This initiative aims to counter false information quickly at the community level, where hyper-local disinformation can spread rapidly and cause significant damage to electoral integrity.

Moepya described the IEC’s approach as shifting from a “defensive” posture to one of “radical transparency.” One innovative element is what he termed the “News Sausage” approach, which encourages media houses to show the public how election results are audited and verified. By pulling back the curtain on these processes, the IEC hopes to reduce suspicion and counter conspiracy theories.

The Commission isn’t relying solely on transparency and education, however. Moepya emphasized that legal mechanisms, including the Cybercrimes Act and the Electoral Code of Conduct, will be utilized to ensure that individuals who intentionally spread harmful digital disinformation face appropriate legal consequences.

On the technical front, the IEC has subjected its Voter Management Devices and results systems to independent end-to-end testing to ensure the technology used at the country’s 23,292 voting stations is transparent and verifiable.

“We have subjected our VMDs and results systems to independent, end-to-end testing, ensuring that the technology used at the voting stations is not a ‘black box,’ but a glass one,” Moepya said.

The IEC chairperson acknowledged that technology remains a “double-edged sword” in the electoral context. “It can be the tool that disenfranchises a grandmother in a rural village through a viral lie, or it can be the tool that empowers a first-time voter in a bustling township to verify their ballot.”

Moepya concluded by emphasizing that the integrity of the 2026 Local Government Elections is a shared responsibility that extends beyond the IEC to include fact-checkers, lawmakers, technology companies, and international partners. This multi-stakeholder approach reflects the complex and interconnected nature of modern election security in an age of increasingly sophisticated digital threats.