On Thursday, Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court issued a warning stating that candidates of the 2024 municipal elections might face disqualification or have their mandates rescinded if they use artificial intelligence to attack opponents. Alexandre de Moraes, the President of the Superior Electoral Court, emphasized that the 12 resolutions governing the elections will enable the court to battle the distortion caused by artificial intelligence in electoral campaigning.
The Superior Electoral Court approved twelve resolutions to counter misinformation and the illicit usage of artificial intelligence during electoral campaigns. Specifically, Articles 9-C and 9-E were added to Resolution No. 23,610/2019. Article 9-C restricts the spreading of fabricated content, whereas Article 9-E holds information providers jointly liable if misinformation isn’t promptly removed during the election period.
Amid the rise of new technologies, the Superior Electoral Court concurred on Wednesday with Minister of the Supreme Federal Court of Brazil Cármen Lúcia’s proposal to update the electoral standards. In their deliberation, they highlighted the importance of understanding the influence of new technologies on voters and acceptable information standards from both legal and constitutional perspectives. They also reaffirmed that technology should not be used to undermine democracy and the freedoms of voters.
In connection with these issues, on December 5, 2023, de Moraes, together with the president of Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency, inked a Technical Cooperation Agreement. This agreement aims to enable direct contact between the court and the agency. Moreover, on October 20, 2022, Brazil’s national electoral authority approved rules to restrict online disinformation, targeting “the systematic production of misinformation, characterized by the persistent publication of false or decontextualized information about the electoral process”.
These measures by Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court highlight the global concern around the impact of artificial intelligence and its potential misuse in the political process.