It is planned to establish criminal liability for an attempt to influence the election results with the help of deep falsification technology

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In order to establish criminal liability for attempts to influence the election results with the help of deep fake technology and to ensure the right of voters to participate in fair and free elections, the Saeima conceptually supported amendments to the Criminal Law on Thursday. In order for the draft law to enter into force, it must be supported by the Saeima in two more readings.

The right of voters to participate in fair and free elections is one of the basic values ​​of democracy, while fair regulation of the pre-election campaign is an essential prerequisite for fair and free elections, the authors of the bill note.

As informed by the press service of the Saeima, the amendments are intended to establish criminal liability for the use of deep forgery technologies, creating false information about political parties, candidates for the Saeima, the municipal council or the European Parliament with the aim of discrediting them or destroying their reputation, and the dissemination of such information, knowing that it is false .

It is planned that such a criminal offense can be punished with imprisonment for a period of up to four years, temporary imprisonment, probation supervision, community service or a fine.

The authors of the draft law emphasize that the photo, video and audio materials created by deep forgery technologies have become a part of pre-election campaigns. For example, over the past year, deep-spoofing content aimed at undermining a candidate’s reputation has been detected in the election campaigns of Argentina, Slovakia and Poland, the authors say, noting that a large proportion of potential voters admit that they are already unable to recognize deep-spoofing content. .