Conditions For AI Generated Content For Polls: ECI

Chennai: Issuing strict guidelines on content generation for the coming Assembly elections, the Election Commission of India has instructed those employing modern technology to come out with a disclosure, spelling out the nature of their work as ‘AI generated’ or ‘digitally enhanced’ or ‘synthetic content’ to prevent political parties taking voters for a ride with deepfakes and AI generated material.

All AI-generated or digitally altered content must carry the clear and prominent label covering at least 10% of the display area or the initial 10% duration in any audio content, an instruction from the Chief Electoral Officer Archana Patnaik on Friday said.

The creator or the entity responsible for the publicity material must make the disclosure if the content misrepresented identity, voice or appearance without consent, it said.

If any such misleading or unlawful content was detected on party handles, they should be taken down within 3 hours of reporting, the CEO said.

Making it mandatory for all political parties, both recognized and unrecognized, contesting candidates, and other individuals intending to issue political advertisements on electronic or social media to obtain prior certification from the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) at the State or District level, she said that recognized political parties and candidates must apply at least 3 days prior to telecast.

Unrecognized parties and other applicants must apply 7 days in advance and the applications would be processed within 48 hours, a press release from the CEO said. Appeals may be made to the State Level Appellate Committee and further to the Election Commission of India.

The committees had been constituted to scrutinize and certify political advertisements and prevent misuse of media platforms and prevent the practice of ‘Paid news.’

To address the problem of urban voter apathy, the Election Commission had initiated polling facilities within high rise residential complexes and group housing societies and 14 polling stations had been established in such locations during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) 2026, she said.

In recognition of the significant contribution made by the 75,037 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) in the preparation and continuous updating of an error-free electoral roll during the SIR, the ECI had enhanced their annual remuneration from Rs 6,000 to Rs 12,000 per annum, she said. A special incentive of Rs 2000 was also given to the BLOs for SSR/SR and any special drive, she said, adding that Rs 99,81,54,000 had been sanctioned.