The Fiji Times ‘Don’t be swayed by fake news’ – Fiji Times

Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem has urged polling officers not to be swayed by fake news and social media posts.

During the launch of the Presiding Officers Training in Lautoka yesterday, he highlighted situations that polling station officials would find themselves in as elections officers.

Do not be swayed by someone who is Johnny come off the park and say you need to have the ballot boxes upside down, he said.

Do not be swayed by the newspaper or the front page the next day that says the ballot boxes will be placed on top of a table.

Those things have been thought through.

Elections Commission chairperson Mukesh Naidu said a recent survey by the FEO on the last general election showed the high number of people that came across fake news or misinformation on social media.

On the topic of fake news and misinformation, in the recently launched pre-election survey by the elections office, of the 9292 responses, 62 per cent we had noticed fake news on social media websites while 30 per cent did not, he said.

As expected, a majority of them had suggested that they had come across fake news, misinformation on Facebook with Facebook being the widely used social network in Fiji.

It is imperative that every employee of the Fijian Elections Office demonstrate a greater level of responsibility and online behaviour.

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The Fiji Times 'Don't be swayed by fake news' - Fiji Times