New Delhi: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar on Monday expressed concern over “fake narratives”. He said that it has become a “common feature in elections”. The CEC also stressed the impact of new media especially social media on the intersection of technology with the Election Management Bodies (EMBs’) functioning.
The CEC was speaking on the sidelines of the inaugural ceremony of a two-day international conference on the theme ‘Use of Technology & Elections Integrity’ in New Delhi. The conference which is the second in a series of three conferences to be organized by the Election Commission of India is being organized in New Delhi under Cohort on Election Integrity initiative led by ECI.
Sixteen countries including Heads/Dy Heads of nine EMBs or Election Authorities are participating. Emphasizing the worrying trend of “fake news/narratives in India and the world” and how it could obstruct the Election Process, CEC said "a disturbing trend of deep fake narratives have become a common feature in elections worldwide, where disruptive elements attempt to alter public perception and mislead the user by repetitively presenting the deep fakes as “fact”.
Recalling his keynote address from the previous conference, the CEC noted that social media intermediaries through their algorithm power and AI, have the capability to detect deep fakes proactively, especially in jurisdictions like India, where electoral cycles are definite and well-announced. The CEC used the enforcement agencies analogy to put the onus on social media platforms to detect deep fakes proactively.
The CEC highlighted the prominence of technology in ensuring 'inclusivity' and 'transparency' in elections and thus further building up trust towards the democratic electoral exercise.
