One Nation AI Campaign Video Sparks Renewed Calls for Regulation in Australian Politics
One Nation has released an AI-generated campaign video at its Victorian campaign launch, featuring various demographic tropes and political figures. The inflammatory clip has reignited debates over the use of generative artificial intelligence in election periods, with watchdogs, politicians, and experts discussing the lack of regulatory powers available to address such online content.
Key points
- One Nation reportedly played an AI-generated campaign video at its Victorian campaign launch over the weekend.
- The video features several AI-generated scenes, including demographic depictions and a young man coming out as conservative to his family.
- Candidate Mark Nicholson pledged to jail Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan during the event.
- The Australian Communications and Media Authority currently lacks the regulatory powers to take action on online-only content of this nature.
- Federal lawmakers, independent senator David Pocock, and experts like Prof Terry Flew have called for stricter rules or bans on deepfakes during election periods.
What happened
One Nation debuted an AI-generated campaign video at its Victorian campaign launch over the weekend. According to reporting by The Guardian, the clip includes a series of AI-generated scenes depicting various demographic tropes, as well as a segment showing a young man coming out as conservative to his family.
During the event, candidate Mark Nicholson—producer of the Please Explain cartoon series—made a pledge to jail Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan.
Who said what
Senator David Pocock has spent two years pushing the government to address generative AI around election campaigns, backed by an online petition with 35,000 signatures calling for a legislative ban on deepfakes in elections.
Appearing before parliament's joint committee on AI, Prof Terry Flew of the Centre for AI Trust and Governance recommended that the government consider prohibiting AI-generated deepfakes during election periods, noting that such content threatens to erode public trust.
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) stated in a parliamentary inquiry submission that AI makes it more difficult to distinguish between authentic and manipulated content, potentially compromising election integrity. Meanwhile, a News Corp report indicated a One Nation spokesperson stated they were preparing another version of the video for broadcast.
Context
The release highlights ongoing concerns about the impact of cheap, unrestricted access to AI tools on political campaigning. Current regulatory bodies face significant limitations: the Australian Communications and Media Authority cannot act because its remit does not extend to online content of this type, while electoral commissions are restricted to regulating misinformation specifically about the electoral process rather than general distasteful material or political lies.
Other recent instances of AI usage in Australian politics include a campaign ad by conservative group Advance picturing Daniel Andrews popping champagne corks, and fact-checked or debunked images involving Liberal MP Jason Wood and simulated interviews outside Parliament House.
