EU monitors to release data on social media usage during Presidential Poll

By Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya

The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) will be releasing a body of data on social media usage during the Presidential Election and this data could be made use of in future polls, an

Chief Observer EU EOM  Marisa Matias

official said yesterday. 

According to the EU EOM Chief Observer and Member of the European Parliament Marisa Matias, a team of five will be observing social media activity, including accounts and fake news. “We have a team observing social media. It’s quite new in the European Union Election Observation Missions and we are devoting a lot of attention to it,” she said.

On 13 November, EU EOM deployed 30 short-term observers across the country as part of the latest phase of its mission yesterday. The observers, along with five Members of the European Parliament, will join 30 long-term observers who have been carrying out observations for close to a month.

In addition to social media, the areas observed and assessed by the EU EOM are the legal framework and its implementation, work of the election administration, campaign activities of candidates and political parties, role of State institutions and civil society, overall environment of the election, and the conduct of the media.

At the event, Matias said they were in Sri Lanka on invitation by the Election Commission of Sri Lanka (ECSL) and that they respect the role and independence of the ECSL.

“We are here to observe the procedure and try to contribute to the democratic process by giving support in the observations. That’s our mission,” Matias said, adding, “So of course, we fully respect the Law of Sri Lanka, just as we fully respect all the actors involved.”

“Our task is not to make judgments but to observe and present our findings at the end of the process,” she went on to say. Their independent, neutral, non-interfering, and impartial stance also made it impossible to comment on if there was enough space for free and fair elections in Sri Lanka, Matias said. “We are not here to comment on international politics or national issues or problems. That’s not our task. We are here as an independent observation mission,” she explained.

While a preliminary statement will be presented after the elections, the observations, which cover the voting and counting stages, will be made by over 80 observers from 28 Member States of the EU.

Pix by Chamila Karunarathne