Plausible commitment to a fair electoral game

In a state without regulations on the use of social networks, the National Electoral Chamber has again proposed a Commitment to ethical substance on the rules that must govern digital practices.

It has done so at the virtual beginning of the electoral campaign, whose first stage will be the concurrent and mandatory open primaries (PASO) scheduled for August 13. They have signed the commitment, by themselves or by intermediaries, candidates for some of the 40 political parties registered in the national order, journalistic associations, non-governmental organizations with specific interests in the improvement of civic action and digital media.

countries like France y Germany they have laws on issues of this nature arising from the ongoing revolution in communications technology. multinational bodies like the European Union they are preparing to adopt norms in the same sense. they have done it too Russia y Chinaalthough in countries like these, conflicts are resolved without consideration with the closure of sites and with physical sentences for the people involved, even in matters as natural and as human as the right to criticize government behavior and decisions.

The high electoral court of Argentina has sought a compromise that involves propagating the digital education, in order to achieve transparency in electoral political information. He has done so with the awareness that apart from the brutal conflicts that frequently arise in political competition, the parties have known in principle to preserve the electoral system as an arbiter of the rules of the game. There have been serious exceptions, as is public knowledge.

Regarding the improper use of the networks, to say the least, the court took into account precedents such as the one that affected the Cordovan national deputy Mario Negri (Together for Change). Shortly before the 2021 legislative elections, it circulated in Facebook a video with the image of the then candidate for senator of Córdoba together with the audio of an interview in which he supposedly admitted to keeping part of the salaries of public employees. But that it was false: the audio had been edited and the voices of the journalists and of Negri corresponded to two different interviews not related to the topic. The deputy filed a formal complaint with the Electoral Court and the content was removed by the social network. Who could assure that that falsehood did not affect Negri, his party and the coalition that he integrates at the polls?

The court also took into account the case raised in the Brazilian campaign from which he emerged victorious Jair Bolsonaro. One of his rivals was denounced the day before the elections for having abused minors. The denial occurred the following day during voting hours. How can one not believe that the muffled authors of the lie obtained some effect with respect to what they had planned?

The National Electoral Chamber has mobilized in defense of fair electoral play. It should be congratulated that so many actors in the Argentine public space have come together to support this initiative. Let us accept, for a moment, taking it for granted that they have done so with the civic decency that has been so absent in recent weeks in Argentine politics.

From now on, there is not only a commitment to avoid “fake news”, but also to denounce it

As a proof of the acceleration of the changes introduced by the new technologies in the electoral processes, the president of the chamber, Alberto Dalla Viabrought to mind the careful observation of John Sartorithe famous Italian political scientist who spoke years ago about the “videopolitics”. It was natural to speak like this until not many years ago, when experts in electoral contests recommended reserving a considerable part of the resources for the essential investment in television channels.

The trends have radically changed after the first ten years of this century. In 2011, only 4% of total ad spend went to social media. Barely a decade later, that figure rose to 44% in Argentina, and everything indicates that in 2023 it will rise above half of the expenses made by parties and coalitions in propaganda.

Sartori’s definition of “video politics” has outdated rapidly and prompts political financing control mechanisms to focus preferentially on the digital sphere. The defense of freedom in the terms imposed by the spirit and letter of the National Constitution must remain safe, but the misuse of that freedom by instruments about whose action there is not yet full knowledge in the legislative and judicial orders is calling for a Consideration of the risk of leaving legal loopholes that seriously compromise the country’s institutional framework.

We know that the documentation centers of the judicial powers of Córdoba and of Chaco, and also those of the National Directorate of Migrations. And we know that if this were to happen with the software that concentrates the information on the names and other personal affiliation data of the polling station authorities, a catastrophic phenomenon could arise in relation to the next elections. It could, quite simply, ruin your performance from one day to the next.

The moral and ethical commitment of those who sealed with their signature the agreement promoted by the National Electoral Chamber concerns such dramatic issues, to call them in some way, like the one we left exposed, and which includes, of course, the deliberate lies that are usually spread through the networks It is what public opinion knows at this point by the Anglicism of “fake news”. From now on there is not only a commitment to avoid them, but also to denounce them and to make use of all the instruments, which are already many and efficient, in order to avert effects that confuse and disturb public information.

Even more serious is the case of the “deep fakes” with which it is possible to convincingly transmit on screens, with the contribution of enormous masses of data in images and words, the voice and face of a person with the purpose of making them utter nonsense or make statements that disqualify them. This is happening today in the world and Argentines have seen, for example, the Pope dressed in a strange outfit that Bergoglio will have been the first to be surprised at.

To say the least, the judges of the National Electoral Chamber have invited a symbolic gesture from important actors in Argentine politics and from those who play significant roles in this area in the preparation and monitoring of information. That single gesture and its acceptance, as had happened in the same way in similar circumstances in 2019 and 2021, must be valued as a hopeful element in national politics among so many misfortunes.

Hopefully there will be emulations of the sealed commitment between society and politics in order to revitalize at least the decayed national spirit. One could not expect anything other than the citizen spirit worked as it has been due to the consequences of the absolute failure of the policies of Kirchnerism and its accomplices on the left, on the one hand, and due to the confusion, on the other hand, produced by an incoherent, alien opposition. to the growing responsibilities that he is responsible for in the midst of the ruins that the ruling party leaves in its wake, collapsing everything.

THE NATION