MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections is eyeing to ban the use of artificial intelligence and deepfakes during the campaign for the May 2025 midterm elections.“I will convince our commission en banc to prohibit during the campaign period the use of AI and deepfakes, because many are confused and misrepresented, and untruths abound when these are used,” Garcia told reporters yesterday.
He noted that President Marcos himself, as well as other heads of states, have become victims of deepfake videos.“The abuse of AI technology and deepfake videos undermine the integrity of the elections and the credibility of public officials, candidates and election management authorities,” Garcia said.
Garcia said the poll body intends to require party-list groups to submit 10 nominees instead of the previous requirement of five. For the Comelec chief, it is highly unlikely for all 10 nominees to withdraw which will prompt the party-list group to submit a list of substitute nominees. The biggest number of applicants came from Calabarzon with 568,411, followed by the National Capital Region with 463,364.
The poll body, however, will continue to encourage all eligible voters to register until the last day of registration on Sept. 30.In another development, the Comelec has awarded the contract for the procurement of the online voting and counting system to be used in the overseas voting for next year’s polls.
The SBAC said that it found no reason to reverse the decision declaring the joint venture led by SMS Global as the bidder with the lowest calculated and responsive bid. From Oct. 1 to 8, those running for the polls may file their certificates of candidacy while party-list groups will file their certificates of nomination and acceptance.
“The Comelec must prove to the Supreme Court that its contract with Miru is not illegal,” Erice said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum yesterday.The former lawmaker maintained that the hybrid election system by Miru is illegal and unnecessary to be rolled out for next year’s elections.