Criminalizing online manipulation

In an era when artificial intelligence (AI) and deepfake technology can manufacture convincing but entirely false narratives, the spread of misinformation has become a powerful tool for deception. AI-generated videos and manipulated content are no longer just entertainment gimmicks — they are being weaponized to distort public perception, attack institutions, and condition minds into believing fabricated realities.

This is a serious threat to public order and democracy, and it is time that legal systems worldwide recognize the gravity of this issue by criminalizing malicious digital deception and outlawing troll operations that deliberately spread fake news. The ability to alter videos using AI presents an unprecedented challenge to truth and transparency.

Political figures, journalists, and public officials have become frequent targets of manipulated content, designed to sway public opinion through fabricated speeches, doctored images, and edited clips taken out of context. This is particularly dangerous in democratic societies where informed decision-making is the foundation of governance.

When people can no longer differentiate between truth and lies, the very foundation of democracy is undermined. The public loses access to real transparency, and instead they are fed a controlled and artificial version of reality designed by those who seek to manipulate them.

Trolls — those who deliberately spread misinformation and distort narratives online — have amplified this problem. Organized troll farms operate not just as nuisances but as instruments of propaganda, flooding social media with false narratives, misleading edits, and AI-generated misinformation.

Their purpose is not debate but deception. They manipulate search engines and social media algorithms, ensuring that falsehoods reach more people than the truth. By conditioning minds through repetition, trolls can create entirely false public perceptions, making the truth harder to recognize. This is not just an issue of ethics or free speech; it is a direct attack on public order.

The legal system must catch up with technology by criminalizing the deliberate and malicious use of AI for misinformation. Just as libel and defamation have legal consequences, so too should the intentional digital alteration of reality to deceive the public.

Similarly, organized troll farms should be treated as criminal enterprises, as they are deliberately engaged in large-scale deception that harms societies. Other countries have begun implementing laws against deepfake technology when used for fraud and defamation; the same should apply to political disinformation.

At its core, this is a battle for truth. Without intervention, we risk allowing AI-generated deception to become a normalized tool for manipulation, where reality itself becomes subjective. The world must act decisively to ensure that technology serves truth and transparency, not lies and chaos.