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Can fake news swing South Africa’s local elections? | DW News

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As South Africans prepare to vote in local elections, misinformation is spreading rapidly online. False claims that asylum seekers will be allowed to vote, AI-generated videos, and coordinated social media campaigns have intensified tensions around immigration and electoral politics.

DW's Dianne Hawker-Kalubi investigates how online disinformation is influencing public debate, fueling anti-immigrant sentiment, and affecting candidates on the campaign trail. Experts warn that coordinated networks are exploiting real concerns to spread false narratives ahead of election day.

Chapters:

00:00 - Disinformation surge ahead of local elections

01:13 - False claims on asylum seekers and voting

02:14 - Deepfakes and targeted online attacks on candidates

04:13 - How coordinated online networks drive populist outrage

05:41 - Phumzile Van Damme on ward-level microtargeting

07:18 - Why disinformation spreads so fast and fuels real-world harm

09:34 - Foreign interference and the geopolitics behind bot campaigns

11:08 - Social media platforms and the need for legislative accountability

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