CODE Report Finds South African Voters Face Weaker Digital Protections Ahead of 2026 Local Government Elections

South African voters are entering the 2026 local government elections with fewer digital safeguards against political manipulation than voters in the European Union, United Kingdom, and United States, according to a new report released by the Campaign on Digital Ethics (CODE).

The report, titled The Algorithmic Ballot, examines the political advertising policies of Google, Meta, TikTok and X (formerly Twitter), and concludes that all four platforms apply weaker protections in South Africa than in jurisdictions where regulators have imposed accountability frameworks.

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What the report examines

Drawing on a review of publicly available platform policies conducted, the report analyses how major technology companies define political advertising, verify advertisers, regulate microtargeting, provide transparency, and address AI-generated political content. It finds that while some safeguards exist on paper, they are unevenly applied and often far less robust in South Africa than in the EU, UK, or US.

A central concern is that political advertising systems allow campaigns to target voters in ways that are difficult to detect or scrutinise. In South Africa, where geography remains deeply shaped by apartheid, location-based targeting can function as a proxy for race, class, language and political vulnerability. The report argues that this creates serious risks of discriminatory targeting and voter manipulation during elections.

The report also highlights transparency gaps across platforms. While companies such as Meta and Google provide some political ad data in South Africa, these tools remain partial and harder to use than the more detailed systems available in Europe. TikTok does not offer South African researchers the same depth of access available under the EU’s Digital Services Act, while X lacks a comprehensive live global political ad library.

CODE argues that these gaps leave South African voters, journalists and civil society with limited visibility into who is paying for political ads, how they are targeted, and what narratives are being amplified online.

What CODE is asking for

The report addresses recommendations to the IEC, Parliament, ICASA, civil society, and the platforms themselves.

Among the key demands: that the IEC formally require platforms to extend election-integrity protections already active elsewhere to South Africa before the 2026 elections; that ICASA publish binding guidelines on microtargeting and advertiser disclosure; that Parliament develop a dedicated digital platforms and elections framework; and that platforms invest in content-moderation teams with capacity in South African languages.