The dawn of the post-truth era has brought peculiar challenges to democratic polities. One of these concerns attempts to undermine elections — a vital element that testifies to the health of a democracy. Various nefarious means are evolving to destroy the integrity of elections. For instance, the public discourse in countries going to polls is often flooded with disinformation. False propaganda is another preferred weapon to gain political mileage during canvassing. The use of Deep Fakes to sully the images of political parties and their leaders by their rivals is also on the rise. The modus operandi may vary from one setting to another but the intended goal is usually the same: swaying public opinion and, consequently, the vote, by unethical means. In fact, these malpractices that afflict elections around the world are now believed to be inte­gral to a new template of conflict being waged by international powers. Interference in and mani­pulation of polls are central to the concept of ‘hy­b­rid warfare’ — unconventional, non-military means to destabilise adversaries. A constitutional court in Romania had to suspend its presidential el­ections in December 2024 suspecting Russian influence.

Some of these challenges to global electoral processes came to light in the course of discussions at a recent conference that was attended by Election Management Bodies from around the world. Their suggestions to curb the menace point to the slippery nature of the problem. Kazakhstan’s Central Election Commission chairman emphasised the need to define Deep Fakes in order to tackle them more effectively; Sri Lanka’s Election Commission representative, while admitting that disinformation posed a challenge to the country’s polls, reposed faith in legal deterrents; Nepal’s chief election commissioner revealed the constitution of a task force and a policy document meant for social media to keep the polls safe. The World Economic Forum’s 2024 Global Risk Report had identified India as the country at the highest risk from misinformation. This goes to show that there is an urgent need to safeguard the sanctity of India’s electoral process. The deliberations among EMBs are thus welcome. The institutional minders of India’s elections must deploy every available means — be it advanced technology like algorithms or fact-checking mechanisms — to respond to the crisis. The recent decision by social media giants to weaken their fact-checking edifices makes their task even more difficult. Public awareness and the politicians’ commitment to morality may well decide the outcome of this battle.