Few things are more isolating than watching a falsehood about yourself take on a life of its own. One moment you are a public figure answering a journalist’s question, and the next you are the subject of a viral clip, stripped of context, twisted into a soundbite you never spoke. This is the situation Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi finds herself in, and she has decided that enough is enough. According to South Africa’s Justice Ministry, a social media account called “Baas Kruger” has for some time been publishing serious false allegations against her, pushing a narrative that the minister describes…

1. A Meeting of Minds in Colombo: Confronting the Invisible Forces Shaping Elections On a late October morning in Colombo, a quiet but critical conversation unfolded about the future of democracy itself. Representatives from the Election Commission of Sri Lanka, the media, and civil society gathered under the banner of “Beyond the Algorithm,” an event organised by Democracy Reporting International (DRI) with the co-funding of the European Union. The title was deliberate. It suggested that the greatest threats to democratic elections are no longer just the loud, obvious lies told by political rivals, but the quiet, automated systems that decide…