Brazil's 2026 general election will be the first held in the country since AI tools capable of producing increasingly realistic images, audio and video became widely available. In response, the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) expanded its rules on the use of the technology during campaigns through Resolution 23.755, approved on March 2, which amends the campaign advertising rules in force since 2019, according to G1. Rules governing election-related content online have grown more layered with each election cycle, creating an increasingly complex landscape, the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper notes.
The use of artificial intelligence in campaign ads remains allowed, but disclosure is now mandatory: any AI-generated content must carry an explicit, clearly visible notice, including in printed materials. Among the new rules for 2026 is a ban on circulating AI-generated content in the 72 hours before the election and the 24 hours after voting closes. The court also ruled that AI platforms such as ChatGPT and Gemini cannot recommend candidates or rank candidacies, even if a user asks them to.
Reversed burden of proof splits legal experts
One of the most debated changes lets electoral judges shift the burden of proof in cases involving AI-generated content, when it would be excessively burdensome for the person filing a complaint to technically prove digital manipulation. In practice, someone accused of producing fake content with AI may have to prove no fraud took place or explain how the material was made.
The measure divides legal experts consulted by G1. Fabiano Garrido, director of the Instituto Democracia em Xeque, calls the change positive because it recognizes a clear technical asymmetry: it is often extremely difficult for the target of manipulated content to technically prove the fraud. Electoral law attorney Guilherme Barcelos, however, calls the measure unacceptable:
Reversing the burden of proof in this case imposes on the defendant the duty to show that the content was not manipulated. This conflicts with the standards of punitive electoral law and could amount, in practice, to a kind of forced confession, or to demanding an extremely difficult proof: proving one did not commit the irregularity.
Content removal and rules for ordinary voters
The TSE also expanded the cases in which platforms must remove or block content without a court order, including material that attacks the integrity of the electronic voting system, incites crimes against the democratic rule of law, encourages a break in constitutional order, or amounts to political violence against women. Campaigns will also have to unambiguously label sponsored posts and disclose how much was spent boosting them, according to electoral lawyer Acacio Miranda, who says voters have the right, as part of advertising transparency, to know how much it cost to boost that post.
For ordinary voters, free expression online remains protected, but posters must be identifiable, meaning not anonymous, according to Folha. Speech can be restricted when it offends the honor or image of candidates, parties or coalitions, or spreads facts known to be untrue. Only candidacies and parties can pay to boost campaign posts, and only to benefit their own candidate, never to attack an opponent: irregular boosting can bring a fine of between 5,000 and 30,000 reais, depending on the amount spent. Electoral lawyer Emma Roberta Bueno notes that the benefiting candidate can also be fined if they had prior knowledge, and that courts can use a like or comment from the candidate as evidence.
The resolution also bans paying individuals or companies, including through rankings or prizes, to produce political content on their own profiles, a practice associated with the so-called cuts contest run by then-candidate Pablo Marcal (PRTB) during Sao Paulo's 2024 municipal race. In 2024 the TSE also created a transparency library for platforms offering paid boosting, which narrowed the field of eligible companies: in 2026, only Meta (owner of Facebook and Instagram) and Kwai are expected to keep offering the service, according to Folha.