Kerala Assembly Elections 2026: On social media, AI holds the reins of campaigning

Close to midnight on Thursday, actor Asif Ali took to Facebook to clarify that a political post with communal overtones that was being widely circulated in his name was fake.

The post, complete with his photograph, warned that the Indian Union Muslim League would face extinction if the United Democratic Front were to lose once again, and spoke of the fate awaiting Muslims under the Sangh Parivar, drawing on a reference to his film BTech. It quickly drew a torrent of vitriolic, communally loaded comments, particularly from right-wing handles. “Spreading false opinions and attributing them to someone else is legally punishable and extremely disgraceful,” Mr. Ali wrote.

Growing challenge

The episode underscores the growing challenge posed by social media as it becomes deeply embedded in election campaigns. Police sources monitoring the digital landscape during the campaign season said traffic of communally charged political content disseminated through both fake and genuine profiles has surged with the declaration of election. “Fake news is often peddled using such posts. Cases are registered, and the cyber division initiates measures to remove such content,” they said.

Recently, Kerala Police had initiated legal action against the circulation of an AI-generated synthetic video on ‘X’ that allegedly depicted the Prime Minister and constitutional authorities, including the Election Commission of India, in a misleading and defamatory manner.

Yet, political fronts remain undeterred. Round-the-clock war rooms staffed by IT professionals and agencies are driving social media-centric campaigns for this keenly contested Assembly election.

The CPI(M)’s State IT Centre, functional since 2011, has pivoted fully to election-centric content creation, with a special focus on AI. “AI has come in handy to recap the government’s development trajectory since video footage was not always available. Our video Irunda Kaalam, depicting the UDF era, garnered wide viewership across platforms and a dedicated portal,” said an activist associated with the party’s digital campaign.

With limited campaign period, social media has assumed unprecedented significance, agrees Congress MP Hibi Eden, who oversees the party’s digital media cell. The party has hired two agencies for digital content creation in addition to strategist Sunil Kanugolu’s team. “There is a hunger for political content online. We focus on a mix of AI and satire with cinematic humour, which communicates better with audiences. We also do Dhruv Rathee-style explainers,” he said.

He said that the AI-generated video on the alleged Sabarimala gold theft case featuring the Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleagues was immensely popular but has since been removed.

The BJP’s social media cell, meanwhile, is busy producing content exposing “match-fixing” between the LDF and UDF. “We generate State-level content, while candidates have their own teams for constituency-specific material. An AI-generated Instagram reel showing the Chief Minister’s face morphing into that of the Leader of the Opposition has been very popular,” said Abhijit Radhakrishnan Nair, IT convener of the BJP’s social media cell.

Politically loaded rap songs have emerged as one of the most popular social media content. The State Election Commission’s rap to encourage Gen Z voters under the SVEEP programme has gone viral. Rapper Vedan has sung the LDF campaign song highlighting government projects, while a rap produced supporting LDF candidate from Thrithala M.B. Rajesh has also gone viral.

On excessive reliance

However, Kerala’s AI wonder kid Raul John Aju, a Class XI student who runs a technology company, said that excessive reliance on AI for election, which calls for a personal connect, wasn’t advisable. “It also raises ecological issues considering the billions of gallons of fresh water required to keep AI servers cool and the carbon footprint it creates,” he said.