ECP draft AI rules: deepfakes must be labelled, bot campaigns banned; feedback due by 20 November

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has issued draft rules on the use of artificial intelligence in elections, covering political parties, candidates, the media, social media influencers and election observers, Dawn reported on Saturday. The draft was released as a notification on Friday 23 October, and the public has until 20 November to send comments.

The ECP says it is acting under Article 218(3) of the Constitution, which makes it responsible for honest and fair elections, and that misleading AI content is a threat to that.

Parties and candidates

• Every piece of AI-generated campaign material must be labelled: deepfake images, audio, video and synthetic voices.
• Robocalls or voter outreach that uses a cloned voice must say at the start that it is AI.
• No bots or automated accounts to inflate likes, comments, shares or followers to fake public support.
• Logs of all AI-assisted campaign content must be kept and handed to the ECP on request.

Media and influencers

• Print, TV, digital outlets and social media influencers must clearly label AI-altered election content.
• A media house stays legally responsible for the accuracy of anything produced with AI tools, including AI translation, AI anchors and AI analysis.

Election observers

• Observers must spot AI deepfakes and disinformation campaigns and report them straight to the ECP, without sharing the material further.
• They may not use AI to create or touch up photos, videos, reports or field notes.

What is banned outright

AI content meant to deceive voters or misrepresent anyone, and false, insulting or defamatory deepfake statements about candidates, party leaders, supporters, election officials, the judiciary, state officials or the armed forces.

Who enforces it

PEMRA, the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority and the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) would monitor platforms and send compliance reports to the ECP, which could order content taken down or relabelled. The draft, as reported, does not set fines or other penalties.

Why it matters now

Local government elections are due in Islamabad and Punjab (see our Islamabad local polls story), and AI voice and video tools are now cheap enough for any campaign to use. If you run a page or channel that covers politics, the labelling duty would apply to you as an influencer once the rules are final.

How to comment

The ECP is taking feedback until 20 November 2026. Check the ECP's website for the notification and the address for submissions before you send anything. Our AI desk will update this story when the final rules are notified.