The Election Commission of India (ECI) released an advisory on October 24 imposing guidelines on the use of AI-generated content for election campaigning. These directions come on the eve of the Bihar state assembly elections, which are scheduled to begin on November 6.
The ECI imposed the following rules on political parties attempting to use AI-generated content for campaigning:
- AI-generated and AI-altered images, audios, or videos must bear clear, prominent, and legible labels such as “AI-Generated”, “Digitally Enhanced”, or “Synthetic Content” near the top of the screen, covering at least 10% of the visible display area (or initial 10% duration for audio content).
- Such content must also prominently disclose the name of the entity responsible for its generation in the metadata or accompanying caption.
- Parties cannot publish content that is unlawful and misrepresents the identity of any person in a way that is likely to mislead the electorate, sans such person’s consent.
- Parties must take down any content mentioned in the above bullet point within three hours of being reported.
- Political parties must also maintain internal records of all AI-generated campaign materials, including creator details and timestamps, for verification by the ECI.
Importantly, the latest ECI advisory states that AI-generated images depicted political leaders making electorally sensitive messages, thereby affecting the level-playing field during elections.
“The use of technology for creating, generating, modifying and altering information and publishing and transmitting synthetically generated information is a deep threat and challenge because of its ability to masquerade as the truth and unwittingly trap political stakeholders into incorrect conclusions,” stated the ECI.
“Therefore, ECI finds it particularly imperative to ensure that transparency and accountability is maintained to preserve electoral integrity and voter trust,” it added.
Previous ECI Guidelines on AI:
This is not the first time that the ECI has addressed the impact of AI on Indian elections. During the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, the electoral watchdog took cognisance of the use of AI-generated content by political parties and issued a set of guidelines intended to prevent the spread of misinformation.
The directions prohibited political parties from disseminating misinformation or impersonating other people through synthetic media published on social media platforms. The ECI also asked political parties to not use social media platforms to carry any content which was derogatory towards women or portrayed violence in any form.
Similarly, parties had to ensure that they did not post deepfakes on social media handles, and had to take down any offending posts within three hours of a notice.
For context, this advisory followed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by an organisation called Lawyers Voice, asking the court to…
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