The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has launched a digital monitoring platform, PAWSOM-Monitor, to track privacy violations, website disruptions and restrictions on social media platforms during elections.
The executive director of CITAD, Y.Z. Yau stated this at a press briefing, saying it would be piloted during the Osun state governorship election scheduled for August 15 as part of preparations for the 2027 general elections.
Ya’u said PAWSOM-Monitor was developed to monitor the digital environment and assess whether political parties and candidates have equal access to websites and social media platforms during election campaigns.
He added that the platform uses AI-trained agents to analyse submitted websites and social media handles and provide information on their operational status. According to him, it would indicate whether a political party’s website is accessible, disrupted or subjected to any form of interference.
Yau stated that the platform would also monitor social media accounts, including those on X and Meta, to identify cases where accounts belonging to political parties or candidates are suspended, restricted or otherwise prevented from operating normally.
Another component of PAWSOM-Monitor, he said, would focus on unsolicited campaign messages, particularly where individuals receive political communications without consenting to the use of their personal information for campaign purposes.