Ensuring fair elections: “false” social media measures revealed, with a bipartisan plan to require modified labeling on AI-generated videos and images

Ruling and opposition parties have outlined a bill to tighten measures against false and misleading information on social media during election periods.

The amendment to the Public Offices Election Act would add a guidance rule against spreading false information about candidates and require labels on AI-generated videos or images that could be mistaken for real footage.

The revision to the Information Distribution Platform Act would require SNS operators to take steps to reduce harmful effects on information that undermines election fairness.

The government plans to set guidelines through the communications minister and require annual disclosure of each operator’s response status, with passage targeted for the current Diet session.