Peru moves to punish election bots

Update September 21, 2026: Ahora Nación has formally submitted its initiative to the Congress of the Republic as Bill 00198/2026-2031-CD, under the title "Law to prevent and punish illicit coordinated digital operations known as troll farms and bots, strengthening the integrity of electoral processes." The text keeps its focus on election campaigns and on the use of automated or inauthentic networks to distort information.

Peru’s Ahora Nación bloc introduced a bill to criminally punish those who create, manage, promote, finance, operate, direct or hire automated or inauthentic digital networks, such as troll farms or bots, used to manipulate or unlawfully alter information relevant to elections. The initiative, backed by lawmaker César Muedas, entered Congress on September 11, 2026, and is still awaiting assignment to a committee for debate.

What does the bot and troll bill propose?

The proposal would add a new Article 12-B to Law No. 30096, the Computer Crimes Law, and would also amend the Civil Service Law and the Political Organizations Law, among other rules. Its goal is to criminalize the management of these networks when they are used to spread false accusations or impersonate identities with electoral relevance.

According to the text reported by Gestión and La República, the bill sets prison terms of 4 to 6 years, along with fine days. If aggravating factors are linked to funding from sources prohibited by electoral law, the penalty would rise to 5 to 8 years and additional fine days.

La República also reported a specific aggravating factor: if the operation uses artificial intelligence and deepfakes to attribute false statements to candidates, the sentence can also increase to 5 to 8 years. The same proposal would require parties and candidates to report digital advertising spending, communications agency contracts, account management, and AI system contracts to ONPE.

What stage is the bill at?

The bill was introduced on September 11, 2026 and, according to Gestión, is still waiting to be sent to a congressional committee. It has not yet received a committee opinion or full-floor debate.

The filing was later identified as Bill 00198/2026-2031-CD, presented by César Augusto Muedas Balbiese and the Ahora Nación bloc, under the title "Law to prevent and punish illicit coordinated digital operations known as troll farms and bots, strengthening the integrity of electoral processes," according to Caretas.

Information released by the Ahora Nación bloc frames the reform as part of a broader update to rules on computer crimes and political organization. The focus is on election campaigns and on the coordinated use of automated or inauthentic networks to alter the flow of information.

What other initiatives are advancing on digital communications?

In parallel, the Congress Justice Committee backed an initiative to criminalize extortion messages at the preparatory stage. The proposal seeks to add Article 200-A to the Penal Code and aims to punish the extortion message itself without waiting for any property transfer.

The initiative was presented as a tool to strengthen prevention and toughen penalties for extortion demands or requests, in a context of criminal activity that relies on electronic communications. It is not the same filing as Ahora Nación’s bill, but it is another legislative piece expanding the regulatory front on crimes committed or enabled through digital media.

What changes for commercial calls and messages?

The Ministry of Transport and Communications opened a draft supreme decree for public comment on numbering for calls and text messages with commercial or advertising purposes. At the same time, Supreme Decree No. 018-2026-MTC approved in Peru the rule assigning the exclusive 500 series, in the format 500 XXX XXX, for that type of communication.

According to the rule and the details published by Actualidad Penal and El Comercio, operators must reserve that series exclusively for providers that deliver commercial or advertising information and report use of the 500 numbering to the MTC every six months. Telecommunications companies will have 180 calendar days from the decree’s effective date to comply, and technical oversight will fall to the General Directorate of Inspections and Sanctions in Communications.