Kassio defends the electoral system for ambassadors and cites the risk of AI misuse in campaigns

"As is common knowledge in all democratic countries, the possibilities of misuse of artificial intelligence in electoral disputes are growing. The production of videos and audios that aim to manipulate or disseminate content capable of deceiving the electorate, distorting the public debate or compromising the free formation of political will are a sad reality of this decade", he said.

In total, 86 ambassadors were present, in addition to the resident coordinator of the UN (United Nations) and the charge d'affaires of the European Union. According to him, the Court developed an action plan for the responsible use of AI tools in the 2026 elections.

"Brazil has become, over the last few decades, a global reference in holding elections," Kassio told those present. The minister defended technological advances in the Court, stating that the court is capable "of safely totaling, in a few hours, more than 150 million votes."

"The decision of this specialized court, taken more than two decades ago, to invest massively in the development of technologies that ensure the correct registration of votes, with the consequent modernization of the entire electoral process, proved to be correct and continues to bear fruit", he said.

The issue of the limits of the use of AI in elections has thus far become one of the most important in Kassio's administration.

After the PL convention that made Flávio Bolsonaro official as the party's candidate for President, the minister began to defend the legality of artificial intelligence material that favors, rather than harms, a candidate. At the event, an avatar of Jair Bolsonaro, who is under house arrest, was shown.

The president of the TSE had considered meeting the Court's ministers last Wednesday (12), but ended up postponing the meeting. The plenary will analyze the topic and define the legality of the use, in electoral campaigns, of videos and audios that imitate, through artificial intelligence, a person.

Article 9-C of this year's TSE propaganda resolution prohibits the use of deepfake to harm or favor candidacy, even with the authorization of the person reproduced in the video.

At the end of July, President Lula (PT) stated that there was a possibility that the President of the United States, Donald Trump, would interfere in the Brazilian elections to support Flávio Bolsonaro.

"They [USA] will try to interfere here, trying to help the side there win the elections," he said in an interview with the Intelligence Ltda podcast. "And, much more [than Trump], Marco Rubio, who is his Secretary of State."

"I'm not worried about that. My personal conversation with him was very good, but that's not what happens when we leave the meeting."

Days earlier, Itamaraty refused visas to two employees of the United States Department of State. According to The Washington Post, Trump planned to send his aides to cast doubt on the integrity and transparency of the Brazilian electoral process.

Trump's attempt was made after the PL candidate questioned the security of electronic voting machines used in Brazil during an event with ambassadors. The senator also suggested that countries send observers to monitor this year's disputes.

The meeting at the TSE with ambassadors was organized to discuss the fairness of the electoral process. In the view of the President of the Court, it is important to strengthen measures that contribute to transparency and expand dialogue with the international community.

The expectation is that, at the meeting, which continues until the end of the afternoon, the electoral observation missions that will accompany the Brazilian electoral process will also be discussed and structured.

The agenda for the session with the ambassadors plans to address the topics of disinformation and artificial intelligence, the electronic voting system, voter identification and biometric services. Minister Dias Toffoli must close and then there must be a simulation of voting in an electronic ballot box.

In June, the president of the Electoral Court held a meeting with foreign ambassadors and, at the time, stated that the electronic voting system can detect and prevent even minimal malicious changes to the voting code.

"Any change, even if minimal, would produce a different code and would be immediately detected," he said.

In the audience were representatives from countries on all continents.

The minister detailed all security steps for the election, including approval and performance tests, public digital signature ceremony and sealing of electoral systems.

He made the presentation at an event promoted by the website The Brazilian Report and the Novo Selo Comunicação agency, in Brasília. This Monday, he received diplomats at the TSE headquarters.

As Folha showed, even before taking on the management of the Electoral Court, Kassio was preparing to face questions about the security and reliability of electronic voting machines, after fake news on this topic had been one of the hallmarks of the 2022 election.

To people close to him, the judge said he believed in the resurgence of the issue of the fairness of voting, the target of a disinformation campaign carried out in recent years by allies of Bolsonaro, responsible for appointing Kassio to the STF (Supreme Federal Court).

To protect himself, the minister asked for a fine-tooth comb in the ballot boxes available for the next elections for the presidents of state electoral courts. Electronic voting machines have been in use in the country since 1996, and there has never been a record of fraud.

During his term, Bolsonaro encouraged, with lies and illusions, a campaign to discredit electronic voting machines. He repeated conspiracy theories and said, without providing evidence, that