COMMENTS TO META OVERSIGHT BOARD: 
ALLEGED AUDIO CALLS TO RIG ELECTIONS IN IRAQI KURDISTAN

In response to the Meta Oversight Board’s call for public comments, CASCA, submitted a detailed analysis of a case involving alleged audio calls to rig elections in Iraqi Kurdistan. A Facebook post, likely digitally created, claimed political leaders were discussing election rigging. Despite being reported, Meta neither removed nor labeled it, raising concerns about the platform’s role in safeguarding electoral integrity.

The submission highlights key challenges: the dominance of partisan media tied to political parties, which fuels misinformation and undermines independent journalism; the rise of AI-generated manipulation, such as deepfakes, making it harder to distinguish real news from fabricated narratives; and the broader impact on democracy, as misinformation erodes trust, sways voters, and disrupts democratic processes, often targeting women and minorities. However, the submission also warns against over-enforcement, which can suppress free expression, investigative journalism, and public discourse.

To address these challenges, CASCA recommended enhancing AI-driven detection to identify manipulated media with context-aware systems, collaborating with experts to refine policies and avoid cultural bias, implementing tiered review for high-risk content, and increasing transparency in moderation decisions. This case underscores the need for a balanced, nuanced approach to content moderation, especially in politically sensitive regions, to combat misinformation while protecting free expression.