The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has proposed strict restrictions on the use of artificial intelligence to mislead voters. Draft amendments to the code of conduct for political parties would bar parties, candidates, election agents and supporters from creating or spreading AI-generated or manipulated material that misrepresents a person's words, actions or likeness.
Under the proposed rules, any campaign image, video, audio clip or synthetic voice made or substantially altered with AI would have to carry a clear and conspicuous disclosure. Deepfakes that create false or defamatory likenesses, voices or statements of candidates, party leaders, election officials, the judiciary, the armed forces or other state officials would be banned outright.
Parties and candidates would also be barred from using AI bots and automated accounts to manufacture fake trends, likes, shares or followers. Robocalls and voice-cloned messages would have to state at the start that they are AI-generated, and all AI campaign content would have to be kept on record and handed to the ECP on request.
Media and observers covered too
The draft extends to newspapers, TV channels, digital media, journalists and social media influencers, who would have to label AI-generated or manipulated election content. Pemra, the Social Media Protection Regulatory Authority and the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency would monitor for unlabelled AI content and report to the commission. Election observers would have to report such material promptly and would be barred from using AI to alter their own findings.
The ECP said it has a constitutional duty to ensure elections are honest, just and fair. The draft has been posted on its website, and stakeholders can send feedback to the ECP Secretariat in Islamabad by November 20, 2026.