"The Electoral Committee" Announces the Launch of the Information Verification and Digital Rights Alliance

SadaNews - The Central Elections Commission announced today, Sunday, the launch of the "Information Verification and Digital Rights Alliance for Elections", a qualitative step aimed at enhancing the integrity of the digital electoral environment and safeguarding the Palestinian cyberspace from the risks of misinformation and violations related to electoral content.

The alliance includes the Palestinian Observatory for Information Verification and Media Education "Tahaqq" and the "Taqin" platform, alongside digital rights organizations "Hamleh Center" and "Sada Social", within a framework of independent professional cooperation that ensures clarity of roles and separation of responsibilities, based on standards of transparency and editorial and technical independence.

The establishment of the alliance comes in light of the challenges facing digital environments during elections, accompanied by the spread of misleading content and hate speech, in addition to issues related to funded political advertisements and digital platform policies.

The alliance's work is based on an integrated approach that combines combating misinformation during elections by monitoring and refuting false and misleading information that may affect the voters' will or the integrity of the electoral process. It also aims at protecting digital rights by documenting potential violations, monitoring instances of content restriction or deletion of electoral content, and confronting hate speech and incitement. Furthermore, it seeks to enhance advertising transparency by monitoring political advertising policies and funded content on digital platforms, ensuring adherence to the legal and ethical standards governing the electoral process.

The cooperation framework includes setting up a hotline for immediate coordination between the committee and partner entities to monitor any urgent developments, conducting joint awareness campaigns to enhance verification skills among the public, as well as issuing an in-depth final report that tracks indicators and digital patterns during the phases of the electoral process - candidacy, campaigning, voting - and presents future developmental recommendations.

The committee emphasized that the launch of this alliance embodies the principle of institutional integration among the relevant parties and reflects the commitment of all parties to the independence of professional work, away from any political or partisan influences, thereby enhancing public trust in the electoral process in its digital aspects. They also praised the role of partner entities in protecting the Palestinian digital space, enhancing the safety of its content, and establishing standards of responsibility and professionalism within it.

At the end of the statement, the Central Elections Committee called on citizens and media outlets to embody digital responsibility, verify electoral information before circulating it, rely on official sources and professional verification platforms, and avoid any unreliable content. The committee also emphasized the importance of reporting instances of misinformation or digital violations through the approved channels with the committee and partner platforms, which enhances the integrity of the electoral process and preserves public trust in it, calling on everyone to follow the educational and advisory materials issued by these entities throughout the various phases of the elections, affirming that protecting the electoral environment is a shared national responsibility that requires community awareness and collective cooperation.

The committee considered this collaboration to be a sustainable model that will be built upon in the future to protect the digital space related to democratic practice in Palestine, and to entrench a culture of accountability and transparency in the electoral environment.