India election chiefs warn political parties against AI deepfakes

NEW DELHI: India’s election authorities on Monday warned political parties against using artificial intelligence to create deepfake videos and spread misinformation during the country’s ongoing general election.

Millions of voters will head to polling stations on Tuesday in the third of seven voting phases in the world’s most populous country.

A rash of deepfake and doctored videos and misinformation have circulated on social media in recent weeks.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) warned against “misuse of AI-based tools to create deepfakes that distort information or propagate misinformation”.

Political parties “have been specifically directed to refrain from publishing and circulating deep fake audios/videos, disseminate any misinformation or information which is patently false, untrue or misleading in nature”, the ECI said in a statement.

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It did not mention any organisation by name, but said parties would be ordered to remove any fake content within three hours of being notified of such.

The warning came days after the arrest of the social media chief of the country’s main opposition party over accusations he doctored a video that was widely shared.

The Congress party’s Arun Reddy was detained on Friday in connection with edited footage that falsely shows India’s powerful interior minister Amit Shah vowing in a campaign speech to end affirmative action policies for millions of poor and low-caste Indians.

Shah’s original campaign speech shows him promising to end affirmative action measures for Muslims established in the southern state of Telangana.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition Congress party have accused each other of spreading misinformation and outright falsehoods since voting began last month.

In recent weeks, both Modi and Shah have stepped up campaign rhetoric over India’s principal religious divide between majority Hindus and the 200 million-strong Muslim minority in an effort to rally voters.

At a recent campaign rally Modi referred to Muslims as “infiltrators” and “those who have more children”, prompting condemnation and an official complaint to election authorities by Congress.

The prime minister has not been sanctioned for his remarks despite election rules prohibiting campaigning on “communal feelings” such as religion, prompting frustration from the opposition camp.

In its statement Monday the Commission also asked political parties to refrain from “posting derogatory content towards women”, using children in their campaigns, or depicting harm to animals.