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Four parties promise fairness in the election campaign

Egger, Koppler, Roschger and Hiegelsberger (from left) signed the agreement on the deep fake waiver.

(Bild: Wenzel Markus)

Images and videos that use artificial intelligence (AI) to bring fake content to the people - the SPÖ in Upper Austria warns against this. Together with the ÖVP, Greens and Neos, they signed an agreement on Wednesday in which the four parties pledge to refrain from misleading election campaigns.

At the end of November 2023, tens of thousands of people watched German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announce his resignation online. The video looked deceptively real, but was fake - a "deep fake". The regional SP fears that such misleading messages generated by artificial intelligence (AI) could also be used in the upcoming national election campaign in Austria and, as reported, has called on the regional parliamentary parties to abandon the campaign.

Three parliamentary groups heeded the call
The appeal by Red Party regional manager Florian Koppler was followed by his counterparts from three parliamentary groups: On Wednesday, the SPÖ, ÖVP, Greens and Neos signed a corresponding fairness agreement - specifically an "agreement against the use of artificial intelligence for the strategic dissemination of false information in the 2024 super election year". "As the regional managing director of the Upper Austrian SPÖ, I initiated this agreement in order to provide voters with security and to draw a clear line with each other as Upper Austrian regional politicians," says Koppler.

"Providing truthful information"
Florian Hiegelsberger (ÖVP) and Ursula Roschger (Greens) described the agreement as a "signal that speaks for the Upper Austrian way of fairness". Johannes Egger (Neos) praised the "good culture of discussion" in regional politics. All four party managers are "very keen to provide voters with transparency and truthful information".

However, "it is telling that others do not cooperate", Koppler jibed in the direction of the MFG and FPÖ. The latter had stated that no agreement was needed: "Fairness is in the FPÖ's DNA."