Safeguarding Democracy: EU Development at the Nexus of Elections, Information Integrity and Artificial Intelligence

AI-enhanced information pollution in Elections in 2024  

Over the past decade, information integrity has emerged as a cornerstone of healthy democracies, underpinning public trust, accountable governance and meaningful citizen participation.  Across all seven electoral contexts, pollution of the information environment has emerged as a central challenge for democracy. Misleading narratives coordinated disinformation campaigns, and the manipulation of public debate are eroding the ability of citizens to make informed choices. The rapid rise of generative AI technologies, systems that not only process information but use it generate new content, risks accelerating these trends by enabling malign actors to produce fabricated content at scale.

Drawing on case studies from Bangladesh, Ghana, Indonesia, Mexico, Mongolia, Pakistan, and South Africa, the authors identified common patterns of influence targeting elections, undermining trust in oversight institutions, and deepening polarisation. Vulnerable groups, particularly women and minorities, face disproportionate harm from these campaigns. For example, in Ghana, old news articles and images were repurposed as current events to mislead voters, relying on legitimate sources to make the disinformation harder to detect. Coalitions of civil society, authorities, and UNESCO conducted trainings and offered resources for citizens to better detect election-related disinformation. These efforts highlight the importance of multistakeholder collaboration.  

In South Africa, the 2024 elections highlighted the risks that come with information manipulation, such as taking authentic materials out of context to build engagement and amplify the information’s spread. As a useful countermeasure, South Africa introduced a national digital skills competency framework, aiming at addressing digital inclusion, economic opportunities and social participation.  

Risks and Opportunities in Developing Contexts

The report underscores that developing contexts are particularly vulnerable: limited regulatory capacity, weaker oversight institutions, and reduced civic resilience create openings for both domestic and foreign manipulation. At the same time, AI technologies also offer significant opportunities, such as by opening new avenues for political newcomers to reach citizens, improving accessibility through translation tools and supporting oversight bodies by detecting and flagging harmful content. 

Policy Priorities and Recommendations

To address these challenges, the report outlines a set of priorities for EU development practitioners, governments, and international partners:

• Support discussions aimed at developing locally-owned legislation and regulation for the use of AI-powered tools, both during and between electoral periods, especially with multistakeholder dialogue targeted at new ethical standards for the use of AI in political communications.

• Complement regulations in the digital sphere with efforts to target the societal factors that contribute to pollution of the information space, in particular by addressing inequality and enhancing social trust, media integrity and digital literacy.

• Ensuring inclusion of vulnerable groups, particularly women and youth, in the design of solutions, with a focus on accessibility and local languages.

• Supporting independent media and civic education to build societal resilience against information manipulation. 

Prioritising A Long-Term Vision for Information Integrity

The report emphasises that sustainable progress requires a comprehensive, long-term approach. Efforts to support information integrity must extend beyond electoral periods, addressing both online and offline media, while embedding safeguards against polarization and disinformation into the broader democratic ecosystem. International partnerships and cooperation will be crucial to advancing shared standards for the ethical use of AI, detection of misleading content, and protection of fundamental democratic principles and rights.