After the 2024 elections, some pundits who expected a wave of AI-powered disinformation breathed a sigh of relief — but they shouldn’t relax too soon. That’s the conclusion of a new report issued this week by CDT’s Elections and Democracy team, focused on the use of AI in last year’s campaigns. Based on in-depth interviews with campaign professionals, our report points out that companies’ policies helped prevent nefarious uses of AI during the last election cycle. But recent evidence indicates those norms are crumbling just as AI image- and voice-cloning capabilities become more sophisticated and widespread, and stakeholders at every level need to prepare accordingly.
This month CDT also released a report on a rapidly evolving aspect of modern campaigns: the rising importance of social media influencers. The report explores the growing role of influencers and how they fit — or fail to fit — within existing rules set by social media companies and applicable campaign finance and consumer protection laws. Putting forth a clearly defined definition of a political influencer, CDT’s research identified specific gaps in current government and private sector policies and the impact for fair, well-informed elections.
We’re proud that our research isn’t just interesting — it’s helping power the pro-democracy movement. In the run-up to the 2024 elections, CDT shared new insights on political advertising in social media, specifically identifying changes resulting from generative AI and the need to address synthetic content. This year, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression incorporated findings from that research (and other CDT products) into the UN’s June 2025 report on freedom of expression and elections in the digital age. In addition, this week the Anthem Awards recognized CDT’s 2025 report on The Civic Response to AI-Infused Elections, which took an international look at how civil society is countering disinformation. It included case studies on fact-checking in Mexico, decentralization and coordination among civil society in Taiwan, and the international effort to track AI incidents in real time.
CDT is also advocating for critical election security measures and resources that allow election officials to do their jobs effectively. Following the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) decision to cut funding for key election security infrastructure, CDT advocated for transparency in the agency’s decisions, highlighting CISA's critical role in preventing physical and cyber threats to voting infrastructure, including threats from foreign adversaries. Meanwhile, we’re partnering with other election administration experts to identify the security gaps left by CISA’s retreat — and helping to bridge the gap ourselves, such as through a research sprint assessing the accessibility of election websites that seeks to help voting officials fix problems before the midterms.
