Bill to fight digitally manipulated content, deepfakes during polls tabled

If it is passed, candidates can ask for review of content that has misrepresented them

- Chin Soo Fang

A new Bill will put in place measures to counter digitally manipulated content during elections including misinformation generated using artificial intelligence (AI), commonly known as deepfakes.

The proposed safeguards under the Elections (Integrity of Online Advertising) (Amendment) Bill will apply to all online content that realistically depicts a candidate saying or doing something that he did not.

This includes content made using non-AI techniques like Photoshop, dubbing and splicing.

If the Bill is passed, candidates will be able to ask the Returning Officer (RO) to review content that has misrepresented them. A false declaration of such misrepresentation is illegal and could result in a fine or loss of a seat.

Others can also make requests to review such content, which is set to be made illegal from the time the Writ of Election is issued to the close of polling.

The move comes ahead of a general election that must be held by November 2025.

The RO can issue corrective directions to those who publish prohibited online election advertising content under the proposed new law. Social media services that fail to comply may be fined up to $1 million upon conviction, while all others may be fined up to $1,000, jailed for up to a year, or both.

Corrective actions include taking down the offending content, or disabling access by Singapore users to such content during the election period.