The improper use of artificial
intelligence (AI) during electoral campaigns was one of the
factors, together with government intimidation, foreign
interference and misinformation, that contributed to the
deterioration of the quality of electoral processes over the
past year, according to a new report on the global state of
democracy published by International IDEA - the International
institute for democracy and democratic assistance.
In particular, these factors contributed to the worst decline in
the indicator measuring the credibility of elections and of
parliamentary control analysed in the report.
"What we are seeing is that all threats are a reality:
misinformation, cyberattacks, deepfakes are increasingly used
during electoral campaigns, but I think that we are more aware
than we were five years ago: there are fact-checkers, electoral
commissions have dedicated people and structures", the director
of the European program of International IDEA, Sam van der
Staak, told ANSA.
"Overall, we are able to resist better", added van der Staark,
while urging to remain vigilant.
"It is a constantly moving target, so we could witness a crisis
or an incident with each new election", noted the expert,
recalling the discovery two weeks ago by the secret services of
a Russian misinformation operation in the US electoral campaign.
The irruption of AI adds complexity to democracies and the use
of rights, in particular digital ones.
The study highlighted the risk that algorithms based on AI and
used to classify social media content could compromise the
"freedom of expression and access to information during the
elections" within an "already stressed information environment".
AI systems, the experts observed, can "exacerbate the impact of
digital repression" for example by making digital surveillance
and online censorship more pervasive.
"In order to better protect themselves from existing and
emerging digital threats, democracies from all over the world
must boost the safeguard of citizens' rights", the report
warned, mentioning the AI Act and the Digital service Act among
the "scarce" examples of "legislative efforts to deal with these
problems in the respect of democratic principles and human
rights".
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