ISFED conducts 1st social media monitoring study for elections: dubious Facebook accounts, pages tripled ahead of presidential runoff
ISFED started social media monitoring at the end of August 2018, with the help of the Embassy of Netherlands in Georgia.Photo: ISFED.
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The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) for the first time carried out social media monitoring during the 2018 presidential elections, which revealed that the number of dubious Facebook pages tripled ahead of the presidential election runoff in November.
The increased role and potency of social media and its impact on the elections were the reasons why the ISFED monitored social media in the country.
The project was carried out with the financial support of Embassy of Netherlands in Georgia.
Number of #discrediting facebook pages tripled for the runoff - find out more about the second interim report of social media monitoring: https://t.co/3uMC5cSBU2
— ISFED (@isfed_official) January 16, 2019
The monitoring is being implemented with the support from the Dutch Embassy | @Jos_Douma pic.twitter.com/bllwSgpKBI
Major findings of the monitoring are as follows:
- Attempts to discredit candidates and political actors through social media using sponsored content published on anonymous Facebook pages became intensive [in the pre-election period].
- Discrediting Facebook pages operated against Salome Zurabishvili, an independent candidate endorsed by the Georgian Dream ruling party, as well as the opposition candidate Grigol Vashadze and parties that endorsed them, using clearly negative messages.
- During the campaign period of the second round, it became evident that discrediting pages from both sides attacked one another in an organised manner and engaged in smear campaigns in response to discrediting messages coming from the opposing side.
- Ahead of the second round, fake media pages were created or became active, acting against the opposition candidate.
- Pages that aimed to confuse and disorganise voters became active ahead of the second round.
- Following the first round of the election, pages spreading ultra-nationalist narratives became active on Facebook in favor of Zurabishvili. Prior to that, majority of these pages were actively disseminating posts with xenophobic, homophobic and anti-liberal contents.
- Pages of presidential candidates, parties that nominated/endorsed them and official campaign pages on Facebook mostly operated in abidance by requirements of the law.
- The Georgian Dream made illegal donation in favor of Zurabishvili using their official Facebook page-
- published sponsored posts on its official page, openly expressing their support for Zurabishvili.
- Instances of misuse of administrative resources during the pre-election period were not found on official Facebook pages of municipalities and Adjara Autonomous Republic bodies.
- Local self-government employees (civil servants) often violated the Election Code by campaigning during working hours using social media.
ISFED started social media monitoring on 29 August 2018 as the official campaign began.
While the media operates within its own legal framework to protect citizens, #socialnetworks have created a lower sense of responsibility in our democracy. We need to start thinking about what anonymity means and what to do about other countries intervening in our social media.
— Salome Zourabichvili (@Zourabichvili_S) January 14, 2019
The monitors observed:
- Activities of Facebook pages of presidential candidates, parties that nominated these candidates and official campaign pages, and their compliance with legislation.
- Campaigning by local self-government civil servants on Facebook.
- Monitoring of official Facebook pages of local self-government and Ajara Autonomous Republic bodies.
- Activity of Facebook pages set up primarily with the aim of discredit political actors and influence public opinion, their tactics and main messages.