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Global: Tech Accord to combat deceptive use of AI in 2024 elections

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In brief

Leading technology companies have agreed to help prevent deceptive AI content from influencing the many elections worldwide in 2024. This commitment was announced at the Munich Security Conference (MSC).

Signatories to the “Tech Accord to Combat Deceptive Use of AI in 2024 Elections” include Adobe, Amazon, Anthropic, Arm, ElevenLabs, Google, IBM, Inflection AI, LinkedIn, McAfee, Meta, Microsoft, Nota, OpenAI, Snap, Stability AI, TikTok, TrendMicro, Truepic, and X. With their pledge, these tech leaders acknowledge the potential harm AI-generated content can cause to democratic elections. In a statement, they announced that they would “work collaboratively on tools to detect and address online distribution of [deceptive] AI content, drive educational campaigns, and provide transparency, among other concrete steps”.

This commitment comes at a crucial time, with over four billion people across more than 40 states set to vote in elections this year. Within the generally prevailing discussion about AI and ethics, the increasing use of AI in political discourse has raised concerns about its potential impact on geopolitical developments.

AI and Geopolitics

AI has been an increasingly common tool to influence political discourse. Before elections, AI-generated audio, video, and images that deceptively fake or alter the appearance, voice, or actions of political candidates and other stakeholders in democratic elections have been spread with the goal to deceive voters. In some cases, these hoaxes have spread faster than news from reputable media sources, as their design is advanced to a level where it becomes difficult to demask them as fakes. False information about when, where, and how the public can vote essentially hinders people’s access to democratic elections, robbing them of their essence.

Combatting the spread of such misinformation presents challenges for national authorities, as the rapid distribution of deceptive content online currently outpaces regulatory efforts to address it.

The Tech Accord

In response to these challenges, tech companies have initiated collaborative efforts to combat deceptive AI content. This includes developing tools to detect and address online distribution of such content, driving educational campaigns, and enhancing transparency. Besides specific projects, the signatories have agreed on the following eight commitments:

  1. Developing and implementing technology to mitigate risks related to Deceptive AI Election Content, including open-source tools where appropriate
  2. Assessing models to understand the risks they may pose regarding Deceptive AI Election Content
  3. Seeking to detect the distribution of this content on their platforms
  4. Seeking to appropriately address this content detected on their platforms
  5. Fostering cross-industry resilience to Deceptive AI Election Content
  6. Providing transparency to the public regarding their approach
  7. Engaging with a diverse set of global civil society organizations and academics
  8. Supporting efforts to foster public awareness, media literacy, and all-of-society resilience

Your dedicated team at Baker McKenzie is here to help you navigate the ever-evolving landscape of AI regulation.

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Anahita Thoms heads Baker McKenzie's International Trade Practice in Germany and is a member of our EMEA Steering Committee for Compliance & Investigations. Anahita is Global Lead Sustainability Partner for our Industrials, Manufacturing and Transportation Industry Group. She serves as an Advisory Board Member in profit and non-profit organizations, such as Atlantik-Brücke, and is an elected National Committee Member at UNICEF Germany. She has served for three consecutive terms as the ABA Co-chair of the Export Controls and Economic Sanctions Committee and as the ABA Vice-Chair of the International Human Rights Committee. Anahita has also been an Advisory Board Member (Beirätin) of the Sustainable Finance Advisory Council of the German Government.

Anahita has won various accolades for her work, including 100 Most Influential Women in German Business (manager magazin), Top Lawyer (Wirtschaftswoche), Winner of the Strive Awards in the category Sustainability, Pioneer in the area of sustainability (Juve), International Trade Lawyer of the Year (Germany) 2020 ILO Client Choice Awards, Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, Capital 40 under 40, International Trade Lawyer of the Year (New York) 2016 ILO Client Choice Awards. In 2023, Handelsblatt recognized her as one of Germany’s Dealmaker and “most sought after advisors of the country” in the field of sustainability.

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Dr. Alexander Ehrle is a member of the Firm's International Trade Practice in Baker McKenzie's Berlin office. Alexander studied law at the Universities of Heidelberg, Montpellier (France), Mainz, Munich and New York (NYU) specializing in Public International and European Law. He worked as advisor and member of a delegation of a developing country at the United Nations before qualifying for the German bar. He spent his clerkship with the Higher Regional Court in Berlin, the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berlin and Tokyo as well as an international law firm in Frankfurt and Milan. He wrote his doctoral dissertation on the structural changes of public international law and their conceptualization in academic discourse basing his research on the governance of areas beyond national jurisdiction. Alexander is admitted to practice in Germany and New York. 

Alexander co-chairs the Business & Human Rights Committee of the American Bar Association’s International Law Section and has been recognized as one of 40 under 40 lawyers worldwide for foreign investment control by the Global Competition Review.

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Kimberley Fischer is a member of the International Trade Practice in Baker McKenzie's Berlin office. She joined the Firm in 2022. Kimberley studied law at the Ruprecht Karls University of Heidelberg and the Universidad de Deusto (Spain), with a focus on public international law and human rights. Prior to joining the Firm, Kimberley completed her legal traineeship at the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main, the German Federal Foreign Office in Berlin and at an international law firm in Brussels and Frankfurt am Main. She also gained significant experience in public (international) law as a research assistant at the University of Heidelberg and at a reputable law firm.

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Caroline Walka is a member of the foreign trade practice in Baker McKenzie's Berlin office. She joined the Firm in 2024.
Caroline studied law at the Freie Universität of Berlin and the Universidad de Granada (Spain) as well as the University of Edinburgh with a focus on public international law and human rights.
Before joining Baker McKenzie as an associate, Caroline completed her legal clerkship at the Higher Regional Court of Berlin, with the Berlin Senate Administration, at the Baker McKenzie office in Berlin and an NGO in Windhoek, Namibia. She gained important experience in (international) public law during her LLM at the University of Edinburgh, where one of her focusses was business and human rights.

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