Democracy Week

AI & Democracy

AI can help strengthen democracy, or help collapse it

AI and social media can help voters find accurate information, help public officials serve the public, and help more people take part. But that depends on trust, accurate information, and neutral pipes that don't manipulate the algorithms for partisan purposes.
RSVP for Oct 20 CallRead the principlesWho’s working on this →

Draft for feedback · For 2026 and beyond

Principles for trustworthy AI and platforms in elections

A working draft, for this election and every one after it. We’ll go through it together on October 20, and your feedback will shape the version people are asked to sign.

  1. Authentic and clearly labeled

    Voters can trust that what they see and hear from a candidate is real. Synthetic media of real people is used only with their consent or as clearly labeled parody. AI-generated political content is labeled where people will notice, AI agents that contact voters say they are AI and name who sent them, and ad libraries show which political ads use AI. Campaigns and election offices sign their official media so anyone can verify it.

  2. Transparent funding

    Political advertisers disclose who pays for their messages, including money routed through intermediaries. AI and platform companies disclose their own political spending, and that of the groups they fund.

  3. Fair and transparent platforms

    Platforms and AI systems apply the same published rules to every candidate, party and viewpoint, and don't covertly favor or suppress any of them, whether at the direction of outside actors or of their own owners, executives or staff. Companies explain how their ranking, recommendation and AI systems handle political content, and open them to independent researchers so the public can check that they are fair.

  4. Accurate voting information

    AI products direct voters to official sources on when, where and how to vote, and work to prevent false or misleading information about voting. Companies work closely with election officials of every party.

  5. Accountability in public

    Companies report before and after each election on the threats they find and the fixes they make, and correct problems quickly when they occur.

Public accountability

What AI and platform companies should show the public

We ask every major AI and platform company for written, public answers to five questions, this election cycle and every one after it.

  1. 1. Protection from manipulation

    How do you detect and stop efforts to manipulate elections through your systems, whether by foreign or domestic actors outside your company or by owners, executives, employees or contractors inside it? Who independently checks those safeguards?

  2. 2. A record of changes

    What have you changed this election cycle in how your systems rank, recommend, moderate or generate political content, and who approved those changes?

  3. 3. Results and research access

    What election-related threats have you found and acted on, and what data can independent researchers use to check your work?

  4. 4. Accuracy and balance

    How do your AI products answer questions about candidates and voting, and how do you test those answers for accuracy and even-handedness?

  5. 5. Political activity

    What political spending have your company and its affiliated groups done this election cycle?

This statement endorses no candidate, party or bill, and it does not ask any government to dictate what lawful speech platforms carry. It asks the companies shaping what voters see and hear to show the public how they protect elections, in 2026 and in every election to come, and to help build the trust that AI's role in democracy will need.

What can government oversight bodies do to help?

Members of Congress, state legislators, attorneys general, secretaries of state and election officials, the FEC, FCC and FTC, and other federal, state and local oversight bodies, of every party, can:

  1. Request written, public answers to these questions from every major AI and platform company.
  2. Hold public hearings where company leaders explain their safeguards, before Election Day where possible and in post-election reviews.
  3. Use oversight and investigative powers, including subpoenas where companies decline to answer, focused on security safeguards and factual records.
  4. Support near-term, effective oversight by elected officials and public bodies that gives the public a real voice.

What can voters and citizens do to help?

Everyone has a part in this. Three things you can do now:

  1. Join the conversation. Come to the AI & Election Integrity community call on Tuesday, October 20, 2–3:30pm PT, on Zoom.RSVP on Luma
  2. Get your news from several reliable sources. Compare how outlets across the political spectrum cover the same story, and check what you see online before you share it.AllSides balanced newsNews Literacy Project
  3. Get voting information from official sources. Check registration, deadlines and where to vote with your state or local election office, not a chatbot or a social media post.Can I Vote (secretaries of state)Find your state and local election office

Companies that shape what voters see

Some of the leading companies whose products shape what we see, hear and ask about elections and related content:

  • Alphabet · Google Search, YouTube, Gemini
  • Meta · Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Threads, Meta AI
  • Microsoft · Bing, Copilot, LinkedIn
  • OpenAI · ChatGPT, Sora
  • SpaceX / xAI · X, Grok
  • TikTok · TikTok
  • Anthropic · Claude

Others with a growing role in how voters get information:

  • Amazon · Alexa+
  • Apple · Siri, Apple Intelligence news summaries
  • Perplexity · AI search
  • Snap · Snapchat, My AI
  • Reddit · Reddit, Reddit Answers

AI models built abroad, such as DeepSeek and Alibaba’s Qwen, are also widely used, and fall largely outside US oversight.

Our focus now · Rapid response

AI & Election Integrity

AI is already part of this election, in ways that can erode public trust, and much of it happens where the public can’t see. Election Day is November 3. Voters deserve clear answers, on the record, about how these systems are being kept fair, accurate, and secure.

The AI & Election Integrity campaign grew out of the October 8 Forum, co-hosted by Democracy Week and the Center for Constitutional Democracy at UC Law SF. It’s cross-partisan, and it endorses no candidate, party, or bill. Two ideas are at its core:

  • Shared principles for trustworthy AI and platforms in elections, that people of any party can support, for 2026 and beyond.
  • Public accountability. Asking AI and platform companies to answer publicly, and asking elected officials and oversight bodies of every party to request those answers.

Community discussion · Online

AI & Election Integrity: Community Discussion and Rapid Response Initiatives

  • When: Tuesday, October 20, 2:00 to 3:30pm PT
  • Where: Zoom. The link comes with your registration.
  • Who: People from across the political spectrum, and from tech, civic groups, research, and public service.
RSVP on Luma

October 20

What to expect

Introducing the campaign

A first look at the AI & Election Integrity rapid response effort, and an open ask for your feedback on the principles and the approach.

Open community sharing

Working on something related? Answer the speaker questions when you register and tell us a little about your work. Updates are about three minutes each.

Open discussion

An open conversation about keeping our elections trustworthy. Every perspective is welcome.

RSVP for October 20

Why this matters

AI can strengthen democracy, or wear it down

How AI can strengthen democracy (examples)

  • Help voters find accurate information about candidates, ballot measures, and how to vote.
  • Help election officials answer voters’ questions and serve the public.
  • Lower the cost of taking part, in more languages, for more people.
  • Make it easier for people who disagree to find common ground, at a scale town halls can’t reach.

How AI can collapse democracy (examples)

  • Synthetic video and audio of real candidates that voters can’t tell from the real thing.
  • AI agents that contact voters without saying they’re AI, who sent them, or share misleading information.
  • Ranking and recommendation systems that shape what voters see, can be manipulated for partisan or anti-democratic purposes, with no way for the public to check them.
  • Chatbots that give wrong answers about when, where, and how to vote.

Voters have long relied on clear rules in broadcast political advertising: sponsors identify themselves, candidates stand by their ads, and the public can see who paid. Social media brought only partial, mostly voluntary versions of those rules, and led to various declines, social fragmentation, heightened polarization beyond what actually exists, and the spread of disinformation. AI systems and recommendation algorithms now shape much of what voters see, and more and more they talk to voters directly. The same basic expectations of honesty, transparency, and fairness should apply to them.

At our SF Innovators & Investors for Democracy Forum on October 8, people from across the political spectrum shared real hope for what AI could do for democracy, and real concern that careless deployment and weak governance of AI could break it. Democracy Week is working on both sides of that: getting the guardrails right, and putting AI to work for civic life.

The directory

Who’s working on AI and democracy

438 organizations, campaigns, and ballot measures across the US, from AI safety and kids’ online safety to election integrity and data centers, including 66 measures on ballots this November. Filter by topic, type, and state.

Browse the directory

Resources

Key resources

A short, balanced list on each topic, for anyone who wants to go deeper.

Political ad libraries

Who pays for political messages

  • FEC campaign finance data · Federal Election CommissionOfficial fundraising and spending data for federal candidates and committees.
  • OpenSecrets · OpenSecretsNonpartisan data on money in politics, including outside spending.

Deepfakes and AI disclosure laws

AI chatbots and accurate voting information

Platform transparency and researcher access

Content provenance

What the companies say they’re doing in 2026

Past commitments, and how they held up

Recent oversight

Perspectives from across the spectrum

Where voters get information

Help shape the campaign

Want to help refine the principles, bring your organization in, or share research or tools that could help? We’d love to hear from you, from whatever part of the political spectrum you’re in.

Please reach out: ai@democracyweek.net

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Sample posts, emails, logos, and graphics for the October 20 discussion, ready to copy and make your own. A personal note to a few people who should be there does more than any post.

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