AI deepfakes raise serious concerns for UK democracy

UK democracy is under “immense and increasing strain” because of disinformation increasingly being spread by artificial intelligence (AI), with just three percent of the public able to very easily tell if a video online is genuine.

- Kate Devlin

Fact-checking charity Full Fact said there had been a surge in AI-assisted content in the last year and information had become too easy to manipulate and harder to trust.

It called on ministers to act, including with stronger rules on ‘political deepfakes’ — digitally created or altered content, often in the form of false images, videos and audio recordings — to protect trust in elections. “As voters in Makerfield prepare to cast their votes in a high-stakes by-election, it’s clear that many people are struggling to decipher fact from fiction, and to have confidence in the information they’re being served,” the organisation warned in annual report for 2026, Strengthening the UK's Democratic Information Environment.

The Independent recently revealed that around 16.5 million UK adults, almost one in three, were exposed to political deepfakes in the month before May’s English local elections. Next week voters will go to the polls in Makerfield for a contest that could decide Britain’s next prime minister if Labour candidate Andy Burnham, who has said he will challenge Sir Keir Starmer, wins the seat.

Full Fact warned that electoral law needs to catch up with the realities of modern campaigning and that voters should know who is paying for political adverts and when deepfakes are being used.