Morocco’s human rights chief warns AI and deepfakes threaten elections ahead of 2026 vote

Morocco’s human rights chief warned Friday that artificial intelligence, deepfakes and opaque digital algorithms are becoming a direct threat to democratic debate and electoral integrity, as the country prepares for parliamentary elections expected in 2026.

Speaking at an international conference on human rights and electoral laws in Marrakech, National Human Rights Council president Amina Bouayach said democracies were facing what she described as an “unprecedented structural test” as artificial intelligence reshapes public opinion, political participation and access to information.

Bouayach said the issue now extends beyond technology itself and increasingly concerns the protection of fundamental rights in a digital environment dominated by algorithms capable of determining what citizens see, share and debate online.

“Digital spaces are no longer simple communication tools,” she said, describing them instead as an extension of the public sphere increasingly shaped by opaque recommendation systems and automated information flows.

Her remarks come as governments worldwide struggle to regulate AI generated political content ahead of major elections. The rapid spread of generative AI tools has intensified concerns over disinformation campaigns, synthetic media and highly targeted political messaging, particularly after deepfake videos and manipulated audio clips surfaced during recent electoral cycles in Europe, Asia and the United States. (reuters.com)

Bouayach warned that AI was accelerating those risks by enabling the mass production and dissemination of misleading content “at unprecedented speed and low cost,” making it increasingly difficult to distinguish authentic information from manipulated material.

She said Morocco’s human rights council had already begun integrating digital monitoring tools into its election observation mechanisms during the 2021 elections and planned to expand those systems ahead of the 2026 vote through new monitoring, verification and content tracking technologies.

The conference in Marrakech also reflected broader concerns among regulators and democratic institutions over the growing influence of social media platforms and algorithm driven information ecosystems on electoral behavior and public trust.

Bouayach called for what she described as a “democratic governance” of digital space built around transparency, accountability and non discrimination rather than fear or rejection of technology itself.