Roadmap towards the protection of the elections in the information environment in Paraguay

The event, which was attended by sixteen participants in Asunción, Paraguay, provided an opportunity for the Tribunal Superior de Justicia Electoral, Ministerio de Tecnología e Información, El Surti, Latitud25, Semillas, TEDIC, GIPD, Fundación, Decidamos Campaña por la Expresión Ciudadana, Alma Cívica and AECID to further develop strategies and countermeasures against malign actors in the information space that are appropriate for Paraguayan electoral context.

Building upon the insights gained from the first workshop held in December 2023, the event provided an opportunity for participants to further strengthen their understanding and knowledge to develop a roadmap to empower local electoral stakeholders to effectively tackle online threats surrounding elections. During the discussions, several critical aspects were emphasized. First, the importance of strategic communication was highlighted, alongside the need for robust civic education and media literacy. The participants particularly highlighted the essential need to ensure that efforts in these regards are inclusive of women, indigenous populations, and other marginalized and vulnerable groups. Additionally, the necessity for collaboration among state institutions, civil society, the media, and international bodies to effectively combat harmful conduct and content in the communication space and ensure a fair electoral process emerged as a recurrent theme. This was coupled with the network’s keen interest in supporting the electoral reform process. The workshop discussions were informed and compared with emerging global trends and good practices.

The workshop methodology builds on an activity-based, ‘inquiry learning’ approach similar to the BRIDGE curriculum and the International IDEA context overview workshops on electoral risk management.  The next workshop is envisioned for June 2024 and will take the first steps toward roadmap implementation.

This workshop is part of a project that aims to improve the protection of electoral processes by countering malign influencing practices and learning from evolving discourse and engagement in six different countries. Informed by global best practices and exchanges between partner countries, the project will enable national actors in focus countries to identify suggestions for the way forward, work towards implementing suggestions, and share lessons learned with global audiences. The project is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and implemented by International IDEA.