New Era in Election Propaganda: Judge Solberg Draws the Line for Smotrich

Central Elections Committee Chairman Judge Noam Solberg ruled that an AI-generated video published by the campaign of Minister Bezalel Smotrich depicts an event that did not occur and creates a misleading political link between Gadi Eisenkot and Mansour Abbas. Solberg ordered the removal of the video from all social media accounts of Smotrich and his party, citing concerns of misleading the public and violating the prohibition on unfair interference in election propaganda.

Central Elections Committee Chairman Judge Noam Solberg ruled that an artificial intelligence video published by the election campaign of Minister Bezalel Smotrich depicts an event that did not occur and creates a misleading political link between Gadi Eisenkot, head of the "Yashar!" party, and Mansour Abbas. The decision was made following a petition by the "Yashar LeYisrael Im Eisenkot" party and the "Bocherim BeYisrael" association. Solberg determined that the video could mislead the public and thereby violates the prohibition on unfair interference in election propaganda, as set forth in Section 13 of the Elections (Propaganda Methods) Law. It was further ruled that the labeling accompanying the video does not remove the concern of deception, because due to the way content is presented on Facebook and the wording of the clarification, users may not necessarily be exposed to it or notice it easily. Following the decision, Solberg ordered Smotrich and his party to remove the video from all their social media accounts. The decision sets new rules for labeling AI-based content in election propaganda, including a requirement for labeling at least 5% of the height of the content in images and throughout the duration of the video.