Political Misinformation
in the Age of AI

Tom Paskhalis

Romanian Presidential Election 2024: How it started

  • first round - 24 November 2024
  • 6 main candidates across political spectrum
  • most digitally contested election in Romania’s history

Romanian Presidential Election 2024: How it ended

  • Independent far-right candidate came first with 23% of the popular vote.
  • This candidate has been trailing in the pre-election polls at ~6-8%.
  • Declassified intelligence reports identified 25,000 suspicious TikTok accounts and direct payments to influencers totalling $1M.
  • 6 December 2024 - Constitutional Court annulls the results due to alleged Russian interference.

Did it actually matter?

  • We don’t know, but…

If only it were that simple…

  • Multi-channel exposure
  • Secondary effects
  • Network effects, including offline

Influence strategies

  • Organic engagement:
    • Resource-intensive, but, essentially, unrestricted.
  • Political ads:
    • Could be targeted, but heavily regulated.
  • ‘Fake’ accounts:
    • Platform-specific, legally undefined.
  • Paid influencers:
    • Platform-specific, legally ambiguous.

Influence strategies & AI

  • Organic engagement: ⚠️
    • Resource-intensive, but, essentially, unrestricted.
  • Political ads: 🤔
    • Could be targeted, but heavily regulated.
  • ‘Fake’ accounts: 🚨
    • Platform-specific, legally undefined.
  • Paid influencers: ⚠️
    • Platform-specific, legally ambiguous.

Policy response in Europe

  • Old:
    • GDPR (2016)
  • New:

    • Digital Services Act (DSA) (2022)

      Providers of very large online platforms and of very large online search engines shall diligently identify, analyse and assess any systemic risks in the Union stemming from the design or functioning of their service and its related systems, including algorithmic systems, or from the use made of their services.

    • AI Act (2024)

      AI systems intended to be used to influence the outcome of an election or referendum or the voting behaviour of natural persons in the exercise of their vote in elections or referenda should be classified as high-risk AI system […]

    • Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising Regulation (2024)

Duality of policy response

Fighting misinformation + AI be like…