Comelec eyes ban on use of AI, deepfake tech in poll campaign

MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is looking into prohibiting the use of deepfake technology and artificial Intelligence (AI) during the campaign period for the May 2025 midterm polls.

In an interview Wednesday, Comelec chairman George Garcia said the measure is timely as these technologies might create confusion among voters.

“Maganda mapag-usapan na kung dapat ipagbawal ang paggamit ng AI or deepfakes sa kampanya. Dapat ‘yung makatotohanan na kampanya. Kukumbinsihin ko ang ating Commission en banc na ipagbawal namin sa campaign ang paggamit ng deepfakes at Al sapagkat madami po ang nalilito, misrepresentation, madaming hindi makatotohanan na nangyayari kapag ginagamit po 'yan (It would be good if we can tackle the ban on the use of AI or deepfakes in election campaign. Campaign should be realistic. I would convince our Commission en bacn to ban the use of deepfakes and AI in election campaign because many are being confused and it can cause misrepresentation. We are veering away from reality if we use these),” he said.

Deepfakes are an advanced form of digital content manipulation through generative AI, where a person in an image or video is swapped with another person's likeness.

Garcia said personal interactions between poll bets and the electorate is much better than communicating using new techonologies.

“Alam po natin ang (We are aware of) modern technology. Bakit ba hindi? Subalit dapat po, kapag kampanya, ikaw mismo ang nakikita ng sambayanan. Ikaw mismo ang nanliligaw sa kanila. (Why not? But during campaign period, you the candidate should be visible to the people. You should court them personally),” he said.

Garcia, however, said he is open to the ideas of other members of the en banc who would like to allow AI use during campaign.

”Kaya lang sa ating palagay, masyado itong threat sa ating demokrasya, sa tunay na dapat ginagawa kapag halalan at may kampanya (But in my view, this is a big threat to our democracy, to the reality of what should be done during elections and campaign),” he said.

He also asked for the opinion of other offices in Comelec regarding the matter.

Meanwhile, the Comelec reported that the number of voter registrants seeking to be voters for next year’s polls has reached 3.2 million.

Based on its latest data as of May 28, there are now 3,210,523 applicants to become registered voters, since the start of the registration period last Feb. 12 until May 28.

Region 4-A (Calabarzon) is still the area with the highest number of applicants with 568,411, followed by the National Capital Region with 463,364; Region 3 (Central Luzon) with 372,090; and Region 7 (Central Visayas) with 218,329.

The regions with more than 100,000 applicants are Region 11 (Davao Region) with 184,141; Region 6 (Western Visayas), 177,355; Region 10 (Northern Mindanao), 158,226; Region 5 (Bicol Region), 142,383; Region Region 12 (Soccsksargen), 137,539; Region 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula), 127,019; Region 1 (Ilocos Region), 124,482; Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), 119,696, and Region 8 (Eastern Visayas), 111,958.

The areas with low number of registrants are the Cordillera Administrative Region with 41,607; Region 4-B (Mimaropa), 80,621; and Region 13 (Caraga), 81,789.

The voter sign-up period ends on Sept. 30. (PNA)