The IEC has designated Real411 as the platform through which complaints about digital disinformation are filtered and addressed during the 2026 local government elections. On 9 September the Real411 Secretariat, Bowmans and the Electoral Commission walked the public through how it works in a live webinar, Understanding Real411: Safeguarding Information Integrity in the Local Elections. Here is the platform, explained.

What Real411 is

Real411 is an independent, public-facing portal for reporting online harms. Anyone can use it. You don't need to be a lawyer, a journalist or a member of anything — if you can screenshot it, you can report it, in about two minutes, at real411.org.za.

What you can report

Reports fall into four categories: disinformation, hate speech, incitement to violence, and harassment of journalists. During an election that looks like a doctored ballot image, a fabricated "statement" from a party or the IEC, a fake account impersonating a candidate, or a coordinated pile-on against a reporter.

How a report is assessed

Every complaint is categorised and assessed by three independent reviewers. An experienced lawyer then determines the outcome. Outcomes are published, and every outcome can be appealed through a formal appeal mechanism. Where an election code has been breached, the IEC decides any referral to the Electoral Court. User confidentiality is protected throughout, and the process is designed so that no outside actor can influence a decision.

The checks and balances

Bowmans provides pro bono legal support to the reviewers and the secretariat. The legal framework around the process is what keeps it fair: procedural fairness, constitutional alignment, and a review mechanism built to curb harmful content without chilling free expression. The design goal is that outcomes are objective and non-partisan — and that anyone can check the reasoning, because it is published.

Why the IEC designated it

Disinformation spreads faster than corrections. A designated, transparent channel shortens that window and gives the Commission a documented path from public report to assessment to remedy. Transparent mechanisms are what protect public trust in an election, and Real411 is one of them.

The simplest takeaway

If something online about this election looks designed to mislead, don't argue with it — report it.

See how it works, and report at real411.org.za.