THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION has no power to sanction a far-right party over its use of artificial intelligence in material for the local and European elections.

The Irish People, a newly formed party of independents that is running three European candidates and 58 local candidates, have repeatedly used AI in social media posts encouraging people to vote in the run-up to the elections.

A post from 22 May pinned at the top of the party’s account on X features an image of three canvassers surrounded by Irish flags, which has been produced by AI.

The post, which has been seen almost 4,000 times, tells people to vote for “independent nationalists” and other far-right parties and not to vote for anyone else.

The party has also shared AI images of people with quotes, alongside captions featuring names and personal details in a way that suggests they are real people.

One such post, shared on 18 March and seen thousands of times, features a quote from a person called Aisling Byrne who is described as a 27-year-old nurse from Limerick.

“Every day, it’s a struggle to say what I really think without fear,” she is quoted as saying, before a statement by the party that “It’s up to the Irish People to fix it”.

And another post from 21 February features an AI image purporting to show passports in a bin at Dublin Airport, alongside figures from the Department of Justice that 70% of asylum seekers lost their passports between their departure and arrival at the airport.

The Electoral Commission warned candidates in April that candidates and parties should ensure that the use of AI in election material should be “clearly labeled or otherwise made distinguishable through prominent marking”.

The latter two of the above posts have been shared on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and X. However, none of the posts on any of those platforms has been flagged as being generated by AI.

The party’s election posters and leaflets also feature a digitally altered stock image of a model taken by a Russian photographer in 2015.

The image features a woman with freckles and red hair, whose eyes have been enhanced to make them look more green, although it is evident at first glance that the picture has been altered.

However, a spokesperson for the Electoral Commission said it cannot take action against the Irish People because there is nothing that requires the party to flag an image as AI.

“This is a voluntary framework and is intended to complement existing EU and international initiatives and provide guidance in this area for platforms, political parties and individual candidates,” a spokesperson told The Journal.

“While the Electoral Reform Act 2022 provides An Coimisiún Toghcháin with powers relating to the regulation of online political advertising and the monitoring and investigation of online disinformation during election campaign periods, these parts of the legislation have not yet come into force.”

The Irish People has been contacted for comment.