Deepfake Democracy: Legal Regulation of AI-Manipulated Political Content and Electoral Integrity in India

Abstract

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence has changed the way politics is communicated and has introduced new difficulties for democratic governance. Because of deepfake technology it is now possible to produce highly realistic but false audio, video, images, and other political material, which can mislead voters, harm the reputations of candidates, influence people's decisions in elections, and erode public trust. This research paper looks at the legal regulation of AI-altered political content in India and the effects this has on the integrity of elections. It looks at how suitable the current legal measures are, including the Information Technology Act, 2000, the Information Technology Rules, 2021, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, the Representation of the People Acts, and the regulatory actions taken by the Election Commission of India. The study also examines the problems concerning detection, accountability, the removal of content, political speech, privacy, and the responsibility of intermediaries. A comparative viewpoint is taken in order to find out regulatory methods that could help India in establishing an effective framework. The paper calls for transparent labelling, authentication of digital content, prompt enforcement, responsibility on the part of the platforms, increased voter awareness, and appropriate legal protections in order to safeguard electoral fairness without unduly restricting legitimate political expression in the digital age.