Keywords
Artificial Intelligence
Synthetic Media
Political Microtargeting
Data Protection
Electoral Integrity
How to Cite
Abstract
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a defining force in India’s electoral democracy, transforming how citizens encounter information, engage politically, and make electoral decisions. The rise of algorithmic campaigning through predictive analytics, deepfakes, and behavioural microtargeting has produced the “algorithmic voter”: a citizen whose political agency is inferred and shaped through opaque computational systems. This paper examines the normative and legal implications of these transformations, analysing India’s evolving data governance architecture, including the IT Rules. Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA) 2023, the Information Technology Act, and the Election Commission’s digital conduct rules. Through a comparative lens, it contrasts India’s framework with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to identify key regulatory gaps in addressing algorithmic manipulation and electoral integrity. The analysis argues that India’s current legal order remains largely procedural and reactive, insufficient to protect voter autonomy, informational equality, and democratic legitimacy. It concludes that protecting democracy in the algorithmic age requires not only reforming data protection and electoral laws but reimagining data governance as a domain of democratic accountability.
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