Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) said Brazil's Superior Electoral Court that artificial intelligence in electoral propaganda does not require prior authorization from depicted persons.
The case centers on the balance between technological innovation and individual rights during an election cycle. A ruling on this matter could set a legal precedent for how deepfakes and AI-generated imagery are regulated across Brazilian political campaigns.
Bolsonaro presented his defense to the Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (TSE) on July 28, 2026 [1]. The senator's legal team requested that the court reject an action involving an AI-generated video of Jair Bolsonaro. The defense said that the current digital landscape makes strict consent requirements impractical.
A spokesperson for the senator's defense said that conditioning the use of AI to prior consent would practically eliminate the tool from the electoral environment in an anachronistic way [2]. This argument suggests that the speed and nature of modern campaigning are incompatible with traditional authorization processes.
The legal challenge follows the use of AI tools to create campaign content. By challenging the need for consent, Bolsonaro is pushing for a broader interpretation of free speech and technical utility in the digital age, one that prioritizes the availability of the tool over the individual's control of their likeness.
The TSE is now tasked with deciding if the ability to use AI without permission outweighs the potential for misinformation or the violation of image rights. The outcome will determine whether campaigns must secure explicit permission before using AI to depict political figures or other citizens in promotional materials.
“AI-generated electoral content does not need the depicted person's prior consent”
This legal battle highlights a growing tension between emerging generative AI capabilities and existing personality rights laws. If the TSE accepts Bolsonaro's argument, it could open the door for widespread use of synthetic media in Brazilian elections without the need for legal waivers, potentially increasing the volume of deepfakes while lowering the barrier for digital campaign creativity.
