Politics, Platforms, and Power in the AI Age

Facebook has become a central arena for political campaigning in India and across the world. Political parties increasingly deploy a mix of authentic and AI-generated content, including deepfakes and regionally tailored videos, to influence public opinion and mobilize diverse voter bases at unprecedented scale.

India represents one of Facebook’s most critical markets globally. With an estimated 384 million active users in 2025, the platform reaches a substantial share of the population, particularly among citizens aged 13 and above. This scale makes Facebook a powerful medium for mass communication and political messaging.

Visual content plays a defining role in user engagement. While India-specific data on posting behavior is limited, global studies indicate that nearly two-thirds of Facebook users regularly share photos or videos. This trend suggests that visual narratives—especially short videos—are among the most effective tools for influence.

The high engagement associated with visual content has encouraged political actors to invest heavily in digital outreach. Organized digital teams and professional marketing agencies now manage content production and amplification, often operating at industrial scale. As a result, political communication has become increasingly data-driven and algorithm-aware.

Alongside legitimate campaigning, concerns have grown around inflammatory and hate-driven narratives. Such content, when amplified through coordinated networks, can spread rapidly. While it boosts engagement metrics and advertising spends, it also raises serious questions about platform responsibility, electoral integrity, and social cohesion.

AI-generated and deepfake videos have further complicated the information ecosystem. These tools lower the cost and speed of content creation, enabling hyper-personalized political messaging. Although they drive visibility and reach, they also blur the line between reality and manipulation, intensifying governance and accountability challenges.

The surge of deepfake videos on Facebook highlights the absence of a built-in trust verification mechanism. Facebook should integrate a trust factor engine that validates videos for authenticity before posting, ensuring users can verify whether content is original or AI-manipulated, thereby reducing misinformation and abuse.

Against this backdrop, Meta Platforms has strengthened its technological backbone through strategic partnerships. A notable example is its multi-year cloud services agreement with Google Cloud, valued at over $10 billion, to support growing AI and computing demands.

This collaboration reflects a broader industry shift. Despite competing fiercely in digital advertising, Meta and Google cooperate on critical infrastructure where scale and performance are paramount. Such partnerships underline how rivalry and interdependence coexist in the modern digital economy.

Beyond infrastructure, there have been discussions around potential AI synergies, including the evaluation of advanced models to enhance advertising efficiency. While no formal technology-sharing agreement has been confirmed, these explorations signal pragmatic collaboration when mutual strategic interests align.

Meanwhile, independent researchers studying political content through transparency tools, ad libraries, open-source intelligence (OSINT), and AI-based analytics are often able to estimate the volume of political videos and image-based messages circulating on Facebook.

However, automated security systems designed to protect proprietary revenue models and engagement data may flag high-frequency data access as abnormal activity, resulting in temporary access restrictions or IP limitations, which can impede independent research efforts.