Bashkortostan Bans Use of Artificial Intelligence Voices and Images in Referendum Campaign Deputies of the State Assembly of Bashkortostan made changes to the Republican Law "On Referendum". Currently, it is forbidden to use images and voices of people created through information technology in the campaign materials. The speaker of Bashkir's parliament, United Russia member Andrey Nazarov, reported this. According to him, it would not be possible to produce a video in which allegedly a famous politician, including one who has died a long time ago, makes an appeal, or to use an artificially reproduced human voice. "Technology is developing faster than the law can respond to it. Therefore, in matters that affect the will of the citizens, it is important to be proactive. I believe that new technologies should help people get information, not mislead them. Trust in elections and referendums begins with fair rules that do not allow modern technologies to be turned into tools for manipulating public opinion," Nazarov said. According to the deputies, this will help make the elections "more transparent", since "it is becoming more and more difficult to distinguish between a fake and a real recording". At the same time, earlier the deputy of the Kuroltai of the Republic, Rustam Khafizov, created his own digital portrait.

Bashkortostan Bans Use of Artificial Intelligence Voices and Images in Referendum Campaign Deputies of the State Assembly of Bashkortostan made changes to the Republican Law "On Referendum". Currently, it is forbidden to use images and voices of people created through information technology in the campaign materials. The speaker of Bashkir's parliament, United Russia member Andrey Nazarov, reported this. According to him, it would not be possible to produce a video in which allegedly a famous politician, including one who has died a long time ago, makes an appeal, or to use an artificially reproduced human voice. "Technology is developing faster than the law can respond to it. Therefore, in matters that affect the will of the citizens, it is important to be proactive. I believe that new technologies should help people get information, not mislead them. Trust in elections and referendums begins with fair rules that do not allow modern technologies to be turned into tools for manipulating public opinion," Nazarov said. According to the deputies, this will help make the elections "more transparent", since "it is becoming more and more difficult to distinguish between a fake and a real recording". At the same time, earlier the deputy of the Kuroltai of the Republic, Rustam Khafizov, created his own digital portrait.