Brazil’s electoral courts test waters on AI regulations

Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court has published a draft resolution proposing new rules for the use of AI in electoral campaigns. The rules will be discussed in public hearings scheduled for January 23-25.

Brazil will hold elections in its 5,568 municipalities in October, when voters will elect mayors and city councilors for four-year terms.

The draft rules allow the use of AI in campaign ads, as long as the candidates are transparent about it. Viewers must be clearly warned about “the use of digital technologies to create, replace, omit, merge, alter the speed or superimpose images and sounds.” 

Similarly, the use of AI “must be accompanied by explicit information” that “the content was fabricated or manipulated and what technology was used.”

Political parties that fail to comply will be fined.

Under Brazil’s Constitution, new electoral laws cannot take effect if enacted less than a year before the next election, which prevents Congress from changing the rules for this year’s election. However, the Superior Electoral Court has the power to issue new regulations after that deadline.

As The Brazilian Report showed last month, analysts are growing increasingly concerned about AI-powered disinformation in the 2024 elections. Meanwhile, political campaign strategists are promoting AI-based courses, tools, and services for electoral campaigns, with the next municipal elections set to mark a new frontier for technology and democracy. 

In Brazil’s 2022 general election, Google and Facebook were the biggest recipients of campaign funds — a testament to the dominance of the digital world in the battle for voters.

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