According to research by the German organisation Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS), numerous incidents of deepfakes have occurred in recent elections around the world. Examples include the United States, Turkey, Slovakia, Argentina, Indonesia, India, Poland, Bulgaria, Taiwan, Zambia and France.

Most recently, ahead of Moldova’s 2025 parliamentary election, a large volume of AI-driven disinformation was spread. The aim was to turn public opinion against the government, using more than a thousand YouTube channels, TikTok and Facebook accounts. This enabled the dissemination of Kremlin-backed propaganda.

Such coordinated “engagement farms” have helped create false perceptions among voters and attempted to undermine trust in the country’s pro-European party PAS.

In Bangladesh’s 2024 parliamentary election, a deepfake video was circulated in a constituency in Gaibandha falsely announcing that a candidate had withdrawn from the race—an assertion that was later proven untrue. Although the candidate eventually won, the incident raised questions at the time about the credibility of the electoral process.

When political trust is undermined through AI-driven disinformation, voters may lose confidence in the electoral system itself.

This can lead to a decline in political participation, a growing tendency to abstain from voting, or increased scepticism about the act of voting itself. Misinformation can tilt the political landscape in such a way that false narratives take precedence over substantive issues. Incidents in Bangladesh and elsewhere around the world in which AI-driven disinformation has distorted electoral processes demonstrate that the misuse of technology is dangerous for democracy.