The Carter Center is guided by a fundamental commitment to human rights and the alleviation of human suffering; it seeks to prevent and resolve conflicts, enhance freedom and democracy, and improve health.
The Carter Center is seeking a highly qualified individual to serve as the Social Media Analyst on an election observation mission for the 2022 Tunisian parliamentary elections. The selected person will report to the Tunis-based Mission Director and Atlanta-based Associate Director of the Carter Center’s Democracy Program. This consultancy position is scheduled from mid-September 2022 through approximately Feb. 15, 2023; applicants must confirm their availability for deployment for the entire duration of the project. The position requires relocation to Tunis.
Qualifications: Applicants should have at least five years of experience working on election observation missions or democracy and governance programs with a focus on social media analysis. The ideal candidate would have experience working in countries transitioning to a democratic government or within the MENA region, and have expertise in conducting social media monitoring activities, notably with a focus on the use of social media as a communications tool, mis- and dis-information, computational propaganda, online harassment and hate speech, and/or political advertising. Fluency in English is required; Arabic and/or French is highly desirable.
Responsibilities:
- Conduct analysis of the social media landscape in Tunisia and relevant regulations in which specific elections are being held. This could include concerns regarding how social media is used; extent of internet penetration; main social media platforms in use; and the regulatory environment regarding freedom of speech, disinformation, hate speech, data protection and privacy, political finance, and online advertising.
- Adapt the Carter Center’s approach to social media landscape assessments and social media monitoring methodology to provide a recommended approach to monitor social media in the context of Tunisia’s anticipated parliamentary elections.
- Contribute to overall social media analysis strategy, research tools, and reporting mechanisms and oversee a small team of national monitors to implement the project.
- Lead efforts to monitor the Dec/Jan parliamentary elections through targeted qualitative analysis of social media. This may include use of social media to campaign, extent of campaign advertising, mis- and dis-information efforts, computational propaganda, illegal campaigning, voter education and outreach, and security issues.
- Track main political and social discourses in the main social media platforms, prior to, during, and after specific election events.
- Produce accurate and timely written reports as well as contribute to drafting of reports with findings and assessments of the use of social media during the elections and its impact, highlighting key challenges and incidents, and assessing the findings against international standards and best practices.
- Draft an internal lessons-learned document regarding the monitoring of social media in complex electoral environments, including recommendations and guidelines for future election observation missions.
- Strategize meetings to be held between country experts and relevant stakeholders to analyze situations in Tunisia regarding digital communications. Participate in meetings on behalf of the Center – this may include meeting with institutions, agencies, internet activists, academics, social media and social network companies, domestic election observer organizations, and civil society groups active in the protection of digital rights and social network monitoring.
- Contribute to the observation mission’s press releases, public statements and final reports, including on issues related to freedom of expression online, digital threats to election integrity, use of social media in the elections campaigns, and other related issues.
- Remain available for consultation until the final report is published.
To be considered for this position, provide your application details and upload a CV/resume and cover letter in support of your application in the following website: https://airtable.com/shro77dO3AkeCAtHr.
Only applications received through this link will be considered.
As this is an international election observation mission, Tunisian nationals are not eligible for this role. Due to the large volume of applicants, only those candidates selected for an interview or additional consideration will be notified by the Center, no phone calls please. Deadline for submissions: September 7, 2022. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and the position filled as soon as possible.