Democracy is a fragile thing. It depends not only on well-run voting stations and secure ballot counts, but also on something harder to measure: the trust of ordinary people in the information they receive. In the weeks leading up to South Africa’s local government elections on 4 November, voters will be scrolling through news feeds, sharing WhatsApp messages, watching TikTok videos, and reading posts on Facebook and other social platforms. Some of what they see will be true. Some of it will be false, deliberately misleading, or designed to sow confusion and division. That is why the Electoral Commission of…

In Thiruvananthapuram, a fresh twist in a political drama has captured Kerala’s attention, as Health Minister K. Muraleedharan announced that the former gunman of his predecessor, Veena George, will face disciplinary action for having given a false statement about an alleged attack on her. The minister’s remarks came after the gunman, in a new deposition before the Special Investigation Team probing the case, reportedly admitted that his original accusation against five Kerala Students Union activists was made under instructions from George herself. The confession has shaken the narrative that had been built around the incident, and Muraleedharan did not hide…