Paragraph 1 There’s something quietly reassuring about watching South Africa’s democracy gear up for another big moment, especially when the machinery behind it is working overtime to keep things fair, honest, and transparent. In Pretoria, the Electoral Commission of South Africa, better known as the IEC, has made a significant move by teaming up with some of the biggest names in global technology — Google, Meta, Microsoft, TikTok, and Moxii Africa — all in a deliberate and forward-thinking effort to tackle fake news head-on before the country heads to the polls on 4 November for the Local Government Elections. This…

Democracy rests on the faith that those who seek public office will be honest about who they are, where they come from, and what they have done. But when that faith is broken, and a candidate is accused of hiding the truth in the very papers that launch a political career, ordinary citizens often wonder whether they have any legal standing to demand accountability. In a recent judgment, the Supreme Court of India answered that question with clarity and nuance. In Sri Rajkumar Madki v. Dr. Shailendra Beldale, a two-judge Bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Sheel Nagu ruled…