Microsoft’s Commitment to Safeguarding Democratic Processes in 2024

In Belgium, 2024 is a crucial political year with regional, federal, and European elections held in June, and local elections to be held in October. Globally, half of the world’s democracies head to the polls this year.

At the same time, deepfakes, often AI-generated images or videos used to spread disinformation, pose the risk of undermining democracy.

Addressing deepfakes and raising awareness in Belgium

Microsoft is committed to playing a key role to ensure that elections can be held freely, fairly and based on trustworthy information. A cornerstone of Microsoft’s approach to protect elections from manipulation through deepfakes is a series of commitments laid out in the Tech Accord to Combat Deceptive Use of AI in the 2024 Elections, signed last February at the Munich Security Conference. This agreement signifies a unified effort by 27 (at present) technology companies to tackle issues arising from AI-manipulated content in electoral processes. These commitments will make it harder for bad actors to use tools for deepfake creation, and they will increase detection and response efforts by companies while increasing transparency and societal resilience.

As a signatory to the EU Code of Practice on Disinformation, Microsoft has been very active in raising the awareness around the spread of AI deepfakes. Across Europe and in Brussels, Microsoft organized over 70 information sessions with political parties, including five in Belgium. During these meetings Microsoft experts provided comprehensive information on the nature of deepfakes and equipped the attendees with the necessary tools and strategies to proactively protect themselves and their organizations.

In addition, Microsoft hosted the conference “Deepfakes and Democracy: How to Protect Elections from Manipulation.” We were honoured with the participation of Annelies Verlinden, Belgian Minister of the Interior, Institutional Reform and Democratic Renewal, alongside participants from the Flemish public broadcaster VRT, the federal Crisiscenter and NATO.

The event addressed the common fight against election manipulation, highlighting initiatives held by the government, tech companies, and fact-checkers to coordinate their efforts so any attempt to use deepfakes as a means of disinformation is quickly neutralized, and accurate information is disseminated to the public. Minister Verlinden put very rightly that “we need AI to fight AI”.

Protecting organisations vital to democracy through Microsoft AccountGuard

Microsoft recognizes that protecting the integrity of democratic institutions is a shared responsibility. In this regard, we have now expanded the availability of Microsoft AccountGuard to Belgium and Luxembourg, in addition to many other EU countries and the European Parliament. This service provides an additional layer of security to organizations susceptible to cyber threats, including election bodies, journalists, think tanks, human rights groups, and nonprofits, at no additional cost. It offers stakeholders access to security guidance, cybersecurity best practices, threat notifications, mitigation plans, workshops, and webinars.

Microsoft will continue to work in close collaboration with all stakeholders involved to support Belgium’s democracy and the integrity of its elections.