On May 18, 2025, the Electoral Court of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ordered the immediate removal of a video posted on social media that simulated the voice and image of former President Mauricio Macri, in which he allegedly announced the resignation of candidate Silvia Lospennato, from the “Buenos Aires Primero” alliance. The video, generated with AI, began circulating on the night of May 17, in the middle of the electoral blackout and a few hours before the elections.
According to representatives of the political group affected, the dissemination of the video was intended to confuse the electorate and alter the election results, in apparent violation of Section 140 of the National Electoral Code, which punishes acts of vote induction through deception.
The Court, the body responsible for supervising the proper conduct of the electoral process (as established in Section 25.6, of Law No. 6031), preliminarily confirmed that the content is false, was generated using AI, and could affect the free and informed exercise of the vote. For this reason, it ordered the urgent removal of the material from social network “X” (formerly Twitter) and forwarded a copy of the proceedings to the Public Prosecutor’s Office for possible intervention.
The resolution also highlighted that the Buenos Aires government, in a prior agreement with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, committed to adopting measures to prevent the unauthorized use of biometric data—such as voice and face—in AI systems.
This fact highlights the new challenges facing electoral systems with the use of technologies such as AI to create false content that appears real. Digital identity theft, especially in electoral contexts, creates tensions between freedom of expression and the right to accurate information.
Although Argentine legislation does not yet have a specific criminal offense that punishes the creation or dissemination of deepfake content, there are bills of law aimed at regulating this issue. Internationally, some jurisdictions such as Brazil, the US, and the European Union have already begun to implement regulatory frameworks that limit the use of this technology in election campaigns and require greater transparency from digital platforms.
