As India heads to the polls, the electoral landscape is fraught with tech challenges, including the effectiveness of NOTA and the rise of deepfakes.
Voters now face a high-tech ballot with the option of ‘none-of-the-above’ (NOTA) at the bottom.
Despite being introduced in 2013 to empower disenchanted voters, research shows that NOTA influences less than 1.5% of the vote and has minimal impact on electoral turnouts.
Moreover, concerns have been raised about NOTA selections potentially inadvertently benefiting the ruling party.
On the other hand, deepfakes, which are hyper-realistic audio and video manipulations, have entered the campaign trail, leading to urgent warnings from the Election Commission.
To combat this threat, political entities are now required to remove any deep-fake content within three hours of identification.
The collaboration between the IT ministry and tech giants aims to curb the spread of digital distortions during the elections.
Overall, the focus is on ensuring the integrity of India’s democratic process amidst controversies surrounding NOTA and fake technology.
This electoral saga highlights the need for a transparent and fair voting system to maintain voter confidence and uphold India’s democratic values in the face of technological disruptions.