The elections to be held on 21 Falgun will not only be a test of the strength of political parties in Nepal, but also a real test of 'digital sovereignty' and the credibility of democracy. In the digital age, there is no need to go to the polling station with a stick and a khukuri to rig elections.

Pashupati Rai

If we are to believe the conclusions of the world's top research institutions, the biggest challenge this year will not be in the 'ballot box', but in the 'brain' of the voter. In international circles, this is called 'hacking the voter' or 'cognitive hacking', where the decision-making ability of the voter is captured using technology.

Attack on the 'algorithm' of the mind, not the machine

In the past, hacking an election was understood as unauthorized entry into a computer or result management system. However, the latest report by the Allen Turing Institute (2024-25) has revealed a frightening picture. The research claims that the current war will focus not on 'hardware', but on the thinking ability of people.

In the context of Nepal too, it is clear that after the 'digital lockdown' of 2082 Bhadra, the young generation has shifted to 'encrypted' mediums like Discord and Telegram. The state mechanism is almost ineffective in regulating the information flowing within such ‘closed groups’. Such platforms have the potential to unknowingly ‘psychologically condition’ voters. This process of repeatedly showing the same misleading message and shaping people’s behavior into a certain pattern is the invisible weapon of the digital age.

TikTok Report 2026: The scary truth behind the data

TikTok’s latest transparency report has shed light on the extent of the political influence of social media in Nepal. In the last three months of 2025 alone, about 2.8 million videos related to Nepal were removed. Of these, 32.9 percent of the content was directly in the category of ‘misinformation’. The most worrying aspect of the

report is that 34.4 percent of the videos removed were ‘synthetic media’ created or modified by AI. These data indicate that preparations are being made to systematically flood ‘video content’ to mislead voters in the upcoming elections.

‘Hyper-local’ deepfakes and the linguistic challenge

A report by Dartmouth Research (November 2025) has projected that generative AI can mimic human survey responses with 99 percent accuracy. Its impact is even more profound in Nepal. Weaponizing our linguistic diversity, fake audio and videos made in local languages ​​(Maithili, Bhojpuri, Newari, etc.) can easily mislead voters in rural areas. The lack of digital literacy, coupled with the inability to distinguish between real and fake content, can unpredictably distort the election results.

The challenge of the illegal electoral economy and virtual assets

According to the ‘Strategic Analysis Report-2025’ of Nepal Rastra Bank, the use of virtual assets is increasing among young people in the age group of 21 to 35 in Nepal. The Election Commission has set limits on social media spending, but the mechanism to track ‘shadow boosting’ through cryptocurrencies is still weak. This has increased the risk of foreign or illegal investments being funneled into elections.

Security Strategy: From Immonitor (Plus) to ‘C2PA’

The Election Commission, in collaboration with UNDP, has deployed AI-based tools such as Immonitor (Plus). This technology has been successful in countries such as Libya, Jordan, Lebanon and Tunisia. It identifies hate speech on public platforms, but it does not yet seem sufficient for monitoring encrypted groups.

Therefore, it has now become mandatory for the Election Commission to adopt international standards such as ‘C2PA’ (Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity). This technology ensures a ‘digitally verified seal’ on all official election advertisements. Voters can distinguish whether a video is real or ‘deepfake’ with a single click. This technology makes fake content like ‘gold without a hallmark’.

Digital inoculation: The ‘vaccine’ against disinformation

Ultimately, no matter how powerful technology is, human awareness is the last line of defense. This is called ‘digital inoculation’. Just as the body is vaccinated to protect against viruses, voters need to be made aware of the technology and intent of potential disinformation before they are exposed to it. As Google’s Jagus and Cambridge University have successfully tested in Germany and Poland, giving voters a ‘small dose’ of how AI creates disinformation can help them develop critical awareness.