Proposal

APrIGF 2026 Session Proposal Submission Form
Part 1 - Lead Organizer
Contact Person
Ms. Catherine Setiawan
Email
Organization / Affiliation (Please state "Individual" if appropriate) *
Jakarta
Designation
Country Coordinator
Gender
Female
Economy of Residence
Indonesia
Stakeholder Group
Civil Society
List Your Organizing Partners (if any)
For this session, I will be working closely with Mr. Santosh Sigdel, Executive Director from Digital Rights Nepal
Part 2 - Session Proposal
Session Title
Governing Generative AI for Electoral Integrity: Building Resilient and Trustworthy Digital Spaces in South and Southeast Asia
Thematic Track of Your Session

  • Option

    • Primary: AI Governance for Good
    • Secondary: Digital Resilience and Building of Trust
Session Format
Roundtable (60 minutes)
Where do you plan to organize your session?
Hybrid (with onsite moderator and speakers both online and offline, with online moderator for questions and comments from remote participants)
Specific Issues for Discussion
Generative AI is transforming political communication and elections across Southeast Asia and South Asia. AI-generated content, deepfakes, synthetic media, automated influence operations, and micro-targeted messaging create opportunities for civic engagement while posing risks to electoral integrity, public trust, and information ecosystems. Recent elections, including Nepal’s 2026 House of Representatives election, demonstrate both the opportunities and challenges of digital communication. Platforms can expand voter engagement and access to information, but also enable information disorder, disinformation, AI-enabled manipulation, and opaque political targeting. Similar challenges are emerging across the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and elsewhere in the region.

This session brings together perspectives from government, technology and media, academia, research, and civil society to explore practical, rights-respecting approaches to AI and elections across South and Southeast Asia.

The session will focus on:
• AI, Electoral Integrity and Voter Rights: How generative AI, deepfakes, synthetic media, influence operations, micro-targeting, political advertising, and profiling affect elections, public trust, privacy, and participation.
• Regional Experiences and Responses: Lessons from South and Southeast Asia in detecting, labelling, and responding to AI-generated and manipulated political content.
• Governance, Responsibilities and Rights: How governments, election bodies, platforms, media, researchers, civil society, and political actors can respond to AI-enabled manipulation while protecting fundamental rights.
• From Challenges to Solutions: Practical policy recommendations and opportunities for cross-regional and multi-stakeholder cooperation to strengthen electoral integrity, democratic resilience, and responsible AI governance.
Describe the Relevance of Your Session to APrIGF
The session directly contributes to the "AI Governance for Good" thematic track by examining how governments, election management bodies, technology platforms, civil society, academia, media, and other stakeholders can develop responsible and rights-respecting approaches to the use and governance of generative AI in elections. It also directly contributes to "Digital Resilience and Building of Trust" by exploring how information ecosystems can remain resilient and trustworthy during politically sensitive periods. Strengthening the resilience of these ecosystems can help protect democratic participation and public trust while ensuring that responses to emerging technologies remain proportionate, transparent, and rights-respecting.

Expected Outcomes
-Strengthened understanding and knowledge exchange:
Improve understanding of emerging AI-related challenges in elections and share experiences, lessons, and practices for addressing information disorder, deepfakes, synthetic political content, and AI-enabled manipulation across Southeast and South Asia.
-Practical governance and policy approaches:
Identify common governance gaps, clarify stakeholder roles and responsibilities, and develop practical approaches to strengthen electoral integrity while protecting freedom of expression, privacy, and political participation.
- Cooperation and actionable recommendations:
Generate practical policy considerations and identify opportunities for cross-regional and multi-stakeholder cooperation to promote responsible AI governance, electoral resilience, and more trustworthy digital spaces.
Methodology / Agenda (Please add rows by clicking "+" on the right)
Time frame (e.g. 5 minutes, 20 minutes, should add up to the time limit of your selected session format) Description
5 minutes Opening and Introduction The moderator welcomes participants, introduces the speakers and objectives, and briefly frames the key challenges posed by generative AI, synthetic political content, and digital platforms for electoral integrity and democratic resilience across Southeast Asia and South Asia. The moderator explains the interactive format and the expected outcomes.
16 Minutes Panel discussion: Each speaker has approximately 4 minutes to present one key observation, challenge, or lesson from their regional experience. The interventions should be concise and designed to stimulate discussion rather than provide full presentations.
33 Minutes Discussion
5 minutes Key takeaways and closing: The moderator brings together the key insights from the four groups, identifies the most feasible and impactful solutions, and highlights areas requiring greater stakeholder and cross-regional cooperation. The session concludes with a brief summary of the key recommendations and priorities for strengthening responsible AI governance, electoral integrity, and democratic resilience
Moderators & Speakers Info (Please complete where possible) - (Required)

  • Moderator (Primary)

    • Name: Catherine Setiawan
    • Gender: Female
    • Economy / Country of Residence: Indonesia
    • Stakeholder Group: Civil Society
    • Expected Presence: In-person
    • Status of Confirmation: Confirmed

  • Moderator (Facilitator)

    • Stakeholder Group: Select One
    • Expected Presence: Select One
    • Status of Confirmation: Select One

  • Speaker 1

    • Name: Santosh Sigdel
    • Stakeholder Group: Select One
    • Expected Presence: Select One
    • Status of Confirmation: Confirmed

  • Speaker 2

    • Name: Liza Garcia
    • Stakeholder Group: Select One
    • Expected Presence: Select One
    • Status of Confirmation: Invited

  • Speaker 3

    • Name: Rishiti Choudaha
    • Stakeholder Group: Select One
    • Expected Presence: Select One
    • Status of Confirmation: Confirmed

  • Speaker 4

    • Name: Rajib Subba
    • Stakeholder Group: Select One
    • Expected Presence: Select One
    • Status of Confirmation: Confirmed

  • Speaker 5

    • Stakeholder Group: Select One
    • Expected Presence: Select One
    • Status of Confirmation: Select One
Please explain the rationale for choosing each of the above contributors to the session.
The proposed speakers bring complementary perspectives on generative AI and electoral integrity across Southeast Asia and South Asia:
• Santosh Sigdel – South Asian civil society, with experience and research on digital spaces and Nepal’s 2026 election.
• Liza Garcia – Southeast Asian media and digital rights, with expertise in information ecosystems, media freedom, and political communication.
• Rishiti Choudaha – Academic and human rights, with expertise in international law, human rights, and the socio-legal implications of emerging AI technologies.
• Dr. Rajib Subba – Government and election management, bringing an institutional perspective that complements the other speakers.
• Moderator Catherine Setiawan will connect these perspectives to broader questions of AI governance, digital resilience, and public trust across the two regions, supporting a practical, multi-stakeholder discussion.
If you need assistance to find a suitable speaker to contribute to your session, or an onsite facilitator for your online-only session, please specify your request with details of what you are looking for.
I think if we can get more options representative for speaker in Southeast Asia, that would be great.
Has AI been used to develop this proposal?
Yes
How:
AI tools were used to assist with consolidating, editing, improving the wording, and structuring the proposal. The session concept, substantive issues, research findings, proposed contributors, and key inputs are based on the organizers' own work, research, and contributions.
Please declare if you have any potential conflict of interest with the Program Committee 2026.
No
Are you or other session contributors planning to apply for the APrIGF Fellowship Program 2026?
Yes
Upon evaluation by the Program Committee, your session proposal may only be selected under the condition that you will accept the suggestion of merging with another proposal with similar topics. Please state your preference below:
Yes, I am willing to work with another session proposer on a suggested merger.
Number of Attendees (Please fill in numbers)
    Gender Balance in Moderators/Speakers (Please fill in numbers)
      Consent
      I agree that my data can be submitted to forms.for.asia and processed by APrIGF organizers for the program selection of APrIGF 2026.