Misinformation about elections can have real effects and affect the credibility of the entire process, especially in a sensitive political environment
To avoid feeding into it, politicians should make sure to issue clear statement, that cannot be subjected to misunderstanding
A recent example is news that Mohamed al-Menfi, head of the #PC, called for candidates to “boycott” the presidential elections until a consensual legal basis is found. This claim was repeated as such in many news pages, incl.Libya Oserver, Libyan Address Journal, Libya Panorama
The news found its way on Reuters, where it said: “The head of Libya’s Presidency Council said on Saturday he would urge candidates in elections proposed for December not to take part unless there was consensus on the vote’s legal framework”
Tahra reached to the media office of the PC, who clarified that M. el-Menfi did not call for a “boycott”, but started to plan an initiative to reach a consensus on the legal basis for elections with all concerned parties, and that various options will be presented to that end.
Small changes of word, or taking words out of contexts can have strong effects and distort someone’s statement. This is a form of misinformation
