HIBAPRESS
The President of the National Human Rights Council, Amina Bouayach, confirmed on Friday in Marrakech that the Council is deeply involved in thinking about adapting election observation methodologies to the new reality imposed by digital transformations and artificial intelligence.
Bouayach said, during the opening of the tenth session of the International Conference on Human Rights and Electoral Laws, that the legislative elections to be held next September in the Kingdom represent a new opportunity to strengthen observation mechanisms, develop verification tools, and enhance the capabilities of observers in analyzing digital data and early monitoring of risks. She pointed out that the real challenge lies in the collective ability to frame technological transformations within a human rights framework, ensuring that freedom, transparency, responsibility, and human dignity remain at the heart of democratic practice, including in the digital space and in the age of artificial intelligence. In this context, Bouayach indicated that actors in the field of human rights are called upon to rethink mechanisms for protecting free and conscious political participation, especially since the main challenge lies in the ability to maintain the independence of the citizen within a digital environment dominated by complex and opaque algorithmic systems, often designed to prioritize emotion, with an excessive simplification of public debates at the expense of rational thinking and democratic pluralism. After pointing out that the rapid technological transformations today pose new challenges to the institutions responsible for ensuring the integrity of electoral processes and protecting human rights, Mrs. Bouayach confirmed that the National Human Rights Council will continue these efforts during the legislative elections of September 2026. The President of the National Human Rights Council concluded that digital transformation and artificial intelligence can be a real lever for human progress, provided that they are framed by a clear system of values that ensures the protection of rights, starting from the design of systems and algorithms, and going through their development and use, and reaching the assessment of their social effects and repercussions on human rights. For his part, the President of the leading academy in advanced training in Mexico, Antonio Sorela, explained that this meeting represents a unique opportunity to exchange experiences and best practices between Latin American, European and African countries, especially Morocco. Sorela considered that new technologies can help build a more authentic, realistic, and inclusive democracy that respects all religions and identities, calling for joint thinking, during the conference, on ways to use artificial intelligence and digital tools to promote electoral rights, while ensuring that this transformation serves justice and participation without discrimination, especially in the African continent. The International Conference on Human Rights and Electoral Laws, which is being held for the first time in Morocco, at the initiative of the National Human Rights Council and in partnership with the leading academy in advanced training, will be attended by judges from several countries, experts, officials, and representatives of national institutions, electoral bodies, and international and regional organizations, in addition to academics, researchers, and actors in the fields of human rights, digitization, artificial intelligence, and elections. The conference addresses the topic “Elections and Human Rights in the Age of Digitization and Artificial Intelligence” given its relevance in regional and international contexts and Morocco's readiness to organize legislative elections next September. The conference aims to continue to strengthen the multi-dimensional discussion on the transformations taking place in the electoral field in light of the rapid development of digital technologies and artificial intelligence, and to explore the challenges and stakes associated with protecting rights and freedoms and ensuring the integrity and transparency of electoral processes in the digital environment. The conference also seeks to discuss ways to adapt legal and institutional systems to digital transformations, ensuring the protection of personal data, combating misinformation and hate speech, and ensuring the responsible and ethical use of artificial intelligence in electoral processes, while respecting international human rights standards. The conference's work addresses a number of key themes, including the effects of artificial intelligence and digital technologies on electoral processes, online election observation between challenges and opportunities, electoral disputes and ways of judicial appeal in the digital age, online election campaigns and communication based on artificial intelligence, as well as issues of algorithmic transparency, cybersecurity, and the protection of private life and personal data in the electoral context. The conference sessions also review comparative experiences and best practices related to the use of technology and artificial intelligence in managing electoral processes, as well as the roles of national human rights institutions, electoral bodies, and digital actors in keeping pace with these transformations and ensuring respect for fundamental rights and freedoms.
