We Learned That Social Media Can Be Used To Distort Reality: Zec Chief Elections Officer

Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) acting chief elections officer Utoile Silaigwana has accused social media of distorting reality during the election season. Silaigwana insisted that Zec conducted the elections according to the law and dismissed observations from the European Union Electoral Observer Mission saying that the EU is entitled to its own views. Said Silaigwana,

The major lesson learnt is that political egos can affect the smooth administration of electoral processes. Further, as an electoral management body, we learnt that social media is a tool which can be used to distort reality by repeating misleading and untrue statements so many times that they take on the veneer of truth. The truth is that we conducted our elections in accordance with our laws. We met regional standards and were duly acknowledged to have done so.

In its final report on the 2018 harmonised elections, the European Union Election Observer Mission (EUEOM) said the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) lacked full independence and appeared to not always act in an impartial manner.

More: NewsDay

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