The year 2024 was one of the most significant election years in recent decades, with over two billion people invited to participate in nearly 65 elections worldwide. Within this context, significant concerns continue to exist about information integrity, the dissemination of manipulated online and offline content meant to influence public opinion and undermine election administration. At the same time, digital platforms experienced significant staff reductions as of late 2022, which has affected key areas such as online security and regional representation. Despite growing calls by many election stakeholders to take stronger action against disinformation, the platforms’ responses remain mixed.

Meanwhile, the lack of a structured collective dialogue at the global level between election advocacy role-players and major online platforms significantly undermines any efforts to effectively address the information challenges faced by countries at the national level, especially in fragile or high-risk environments. Bridging this gap and developing a global mechanism for regular interaction with platforms would allow all parties to collectively identify challenges and risks, streamline communication channels and co-create effective responses.

At the national level, Electoral Bodies (EBs) and other national role-players in Global Majority countries continue to struggle in their adaptation to these new information challenges. Many are ill-equipped and lack the necessary skills and competencies to design effective responses. Others face outdated legislation that does not address the ways in which online spaces are being used, and often misused, during election periods. While engagement with major online platforms could help address these issues, EBs often struggle to build constructive relationships with online businesses. Without these important partnerships, the effectiveness of efforts can be significantly hampered at the national level.

This meeting, organized by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), Casa Árabe and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), will bring together a multidisciplinary selection of experts to hold a series of interactive discussions intended to find solutions on how to strengthen the integrity of information in elections around the world. Participants will include specialists from the electoral sector and representatives from national electoral bodies, as well as academic experts and professionals working to assist in elections, human rights, freedom of expression, and the technology sector.

Opening the event will be Miguel Moro, the General Director of Casa Árabe, Antón Leis García, director of the AECID, and Sarah Lister, co-director of the UNDP Center for Governance, Rule of Law and Peacebuilding.

The Action Coalition for Integrity of Information Integrity in Elections (UNDP)
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), as the leading provider of electoral assistance within the United Nations (UN) system, launched the “Action Coalition (AC) for Integrity of Information in Elections” in May 2022, supported by the Danish Government’s Tech4Democracy Initiative. Now, as part of its Global Policy Center for Governance’s Strategic Dialogue series, UNDP and the AC continue to provide an important global platform for exchange between the election support community and other stakeholders with a view to building a collective understanding of the challenges and responses to election-related information contamination. The overall goal of the AC is to issue practical recommendations for election stakeholders that can help protect the information ecosystem during electoral processes. It achieves this by sharing information among key role-players in electoral assistance, spreading information on best practices and critically evaluating emerging analyses and recommendations for this sector.

The AC organizes regular meetings at which outside experts, researchers and practitioners are brought together in order to present new ideas, research and approaches to the group, discuss challenges and recommendations, and build better connections amongst national and global election stakeholders. In addition to these meetings, the AC sought to broaden its understanding of contextual specificities and bring in other stakeholder perspectives through a global online consultation in 2022. The AC has also published two summaries highlighting the group’s main reflections and recommendations: Promoting the Integrity of Information in Elections (2023) and Defending the Integrity of Information: Actions for key stakeholders (2024).

Further information on the Action Coalition for Integrity of Information Integrity in Elections (UNDP)

Program Event schedule