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The integrity of democratic elections is under unprecedented pressure. The weaponization of disinformation, the manipulation of social media algorithms, the rise of AI-generated political content, and the growing interference of platform governance in electoral processes have collectively destabilized the epistemic conditions on which meaningful democratic participation depends.
This open panel addresses the central research problem: How are disinformation, digital platforms, and artificial intelligence reshaping electoral competition, citizen behavior, and the legitimacy of democratic institutions, and what legal, regulatory, and political responses are proving most effective?
In line with RC 23's focus on the analysis of elections, citizen activism, and political parties using multiple methods, the panel invites papers on: the effects of AI-generated content and deepfakes on voter behavior and electoral outcomes; platform content moderation and the regulation of political advertising; populist actors' use of digital tools for mobilization and anti-democratic messaging; electoral management bodies' capacity to address digital threats; comparative analysis of legal and regulatory frameworks for combating electoral disinformation in different democratic contexts; and citizen responses to perceived electoral manipulation, including abstention, polarization, and democratic disenchantment.[^8]
Papers are encouraged to draw on diverse methodologies, survey experiments, computational social science, legal analysis, comparative case studies, and to incorporate perspectives from Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia alongside European and North American cases. This panel is distinct from the proponents' existing GT on constitutional jurisdiction (which focuses on judicial responses to disinformation) by centering on the electoral and behavioral dimensions of the phenomenon: how disinformation shapes the demand side of democratic competition, affects parties and candidates, and challenges electoral administration.