Elections 2023 Webinar Series: Policy Brief No. 4 2023 Is There Freedom of Information and Association Ahead of the Elections in 2023?
A key pillar in a genuinely free and fair election is Information. As defined in the series on elections mounted by the SAPES Trust and the Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU), Information refers to not only a free press and media, but also to the ways in which citizens are able to get the kinds of information they need to assess the desirability of the competing political parties.
Having a free press and media means, firstly that the state-owned media is non-partisan since its duty is to serve ALL citizens and ALL interests, and hence should obviously not show bias. Secondly, for the independent press and media, whilst they might serve particular interests, they should not indulge in hate speech.
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