Phase 1
Pre-electoral crisis
Phase description
The run-up of the elections sees provocations across party lines involving limited violence, for instance, during demonstrations or in the form of campaigns to boycott the elections. Politicians, political groups, or extremist movements may use media and social media for spreading rumors and ethnic scapegoating. Government or political parties may also sponsor violence. Incumbent leaders and ruling party members may employ or threaten violence against the political opposition or potential voters before, during, or after elections. At this stage, violence can also result from grievances related to controversial or failed political reform processes, such as policies related to the re-drawing of electoral boundaries, which emphasize political divisions along ethnic lines.
Explore the following 1 use case(s) of digital technology:
Use Case 1
Online participation in political reform processes
This social media tool connects local level dialogue efforts that aim to prevent election violence with national-level political reform processes. The tool would be composed of two social media groups: First, a closed social media group for mediators, through which local-level mediators can regularly share the results of the dialogue processes with national-level mediators that support the political reform process. Second, a public-facing social media page would allow members of the public to share their thoughts on the reform process, for instance, through polls, stories, or comments on posted statements. The group would help to capture the qualitative content of the local-level dialogues (e.g. how citizens are thinking about a given reform process and what political changes they wish to see). This public group would include summaries from the private group, and general information about the reform process.
The tool could be used to prevent electoral violence (Phase 1), or deal with its aftermath (Phase 4).
Important context factors
The tool requires both the willingness and motivation of local dialogue participants to share information and inform national-level processes. The dialogue participants' digital literacy will influence the quality of inputs on the social media page. High levels of political polarization and the prevalence of hate speech may jeopardize the online dialogue efforts or require strong content moderation.
Risks and possible unintended consequences
- There may be limited buy-in, for instance, if the platform is seen as politically biased, or if it is considered removed from the national reform process
- Participants in local dialogues may have little trust in local mediation processes if the results of these dialogues are shared online
- As in offline dialogues, members of marginalized and disempowered population groups may not speak up to share their views.
Strategic purpose of digital inclusion
Functions of digital Technology
Outputs of digital Technology
Technologies used
Social media
Proceed to another phase
Phase 1