Abstract
Abstract : This research delves into the phenomenon of computational propaganda on social media, and draws on social media specialists from some of South Africa’s best performing brands to explore potential strategies political parties can employ to mitigate against crises that occur as a result of computational propaganda. This research is of importance given that South Africa is entering its first ever National Elections since the identification of computational propaganda as a threat to electoral processes. To date, there is no research that explores this within the South African context. The research entailed semi-structured interviews with eight social media managers, selected using the purposive non-probability sampling method. In addition to this, the research interviewed a communications head from South Africa’s largest political party in order to assess what strategies are already in place. These two sets of data were consolidated resulting in four potential strategies to mitigate against the risk of computational propaganda. The four potential mitigation strategies are grouped into two approaches, the first approach relates to preventative measures political parties can take, namely protecting brand identity and aligning communications. The second approach related to defensive measures political party brands could take in the event of a computational propaganda event, namely online reputation management and integration of communication. The research further uncovered contextual considerations political party brands must take into account before employing strategies to mitigate against crises that arise as a result of computational propaganda.
M.A. (Communication Studies)