Guidelines for the Development of a Social Media Code of Conduct for Elections

The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) observes that electoral management bodies (EMBs) have noted stakeholders' increasing reliance on social media throughout the electoral cycle but have also voiced concerns about the potential use of social media to spread hate speech, misinformation, and rumours. This document provides general guidance for EMBs and other stakeholders, including political parties, candidates, citizen journalists, and other social media commentators, seeking to reach agreement on a code of etiquette for the publication and dissemination of election-related news and information via social media.

The first section discusses the definitions of social media and election-related content. This discussion aims to highlight some of the considerations for stakeholders who are attempting to draft definitions that are suitable to their own environments.

The second section lists 9 topic areas to be considered for inclusion in any code of conduct:

1. Truthful posting and publishing
2. Accuracy and accountability
3. Hate speech
4. Language
5. Electoral context norms
6. Disclosure and independence
7. Social media and electoral law
8. The responsibilities of electoral management bodies
9. Multimedia posts

Within each topic, suggested language is provided, as well as a brief synopsis of why the topic area is important. This model code is not a legal document; rather, it is meant to be a stakeholder agreement, made in good faith, by those who wish to be engaged and involved in the electoral process.

The third section contains a list of links to countries' codes of conduct related to social media, to be used as a reference.