Regulating Chatbots in Brazil's 2026 Elections: TSE Imposes Restrictions on AI Influence
Brazil's electoral court has implemented new regulations that restrict chatbots from offering advice on who to vote for in the upcoming elections. The court has expressed concerns that AI chatbots could influence the outcome of the October vote in Brazil. The regulations imposed by the court limit the operations of chatbots during the 2026 election cycle and increase platform liability for disseminating false information.
The TSE has been actively combating disinformation and has declared former president Jair Bolsonaro ineligible to run for office due to spreading false information during the 2022 polls. The 2026 election will be the first major vote since chatbots became widely available in Brazil. These AI tools are now prohibited from providing recommendations, rankings, or opinions about candidates and political parties, even when prompted by users.
Despite the new rules, some AI chatbots, including ChatGPT, Grok, and Gemini, have continued to rank political candidates when asked about the best candidates for the 2026 elections. This has raised concerns about the potential influence of technology on voting behavior in Brazil, as chatbot responses are generated based on training data that may contain errors or biases.
Theo Araujo, director of the Amsterdam School of Communication Research, highlighted that chatbot responses could impact voter decisions, as people may perceive them as neutral or objective sources. Some candidates have even encouraged their followers to seek information from chatbots to determine the truth. However, it remains unclear how the TSE will enforce the new regulations, as specific sanctions are not outlined.
Despite the challenges and concerns surrounding the use of AI chatbots in the electoral process, efforts are being made to ensure that these tools do not favor any particular candidate. Companies like OpenAI and Google have stated that their chatbots are trained to be impartial and provide responses based on user prompts. The enforcement of the TSE's regulations and the potential impact of chatbots on the election outcome remain subjects of ongoing debate and scrutiny.