Viral lies: AI deepfakes hijack reality in Nepal’s election run-up

South China Morning PostCenter-RightEN 1 min read 100% complete by Bibek BhandariJanuary 24, 2026 at 09:00 AM

AI Summary

short article 1 min

In Nepal, AI-generated deepfakes are spreading misinformation ahead of a snap election on March 5th. These fabricated videos, audio clips, images, and songs are flooding social media platforms, confusing public discourse. One example includes a video depicting political figures seemingly forming an alliance that never occurred. This surge of AI-generated content follows a period of political upheaval and eroded public trust in institutions after a youth-led anti-corruption movement ousted the former prime minister. Analysts and digital rights advocates are concerned about the impact of this misinformation on the upcoming election.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Nepali Congress 50% Rastriya Swatantra Party 60% Sher Bahadur Deuba 60% K.P. Sharma Oli ×270% Balendra Shah 70% Kulman Ghising 70% Rabi Lamichhane 80% Nepal ×4100%

Keywords

ai deepfakes 100% nepal election 90% artificial intelligence 80% misinformation 70% social media 60% public discourse 50% political alliance 50% rabi lamichhane 40% political figures 40%

Sentiment Analysis

Very Negative

Score: -0.60

Source Transparency

Source

South China Morning Post

Political Lean

Center-Right (0.50)

Far LeftCenterFar Right

Classification Confidence

90%

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).

Topic Connections

Explore how the topics in this article connect to other news stories

No topic relationship data available yet. This graph will appear once topic relationships have been computed.

ai deepfakes nepal election artificial intelligence misinformation social media public discourse political alliance rabi lamichhane political figures

Explore Full Topic Graph