Peru - AI Digital Labeling Bill (6524/2023)

Overview

Project 6524/2023, presented to the Congress of the Republic of Peru on 27 November 2023, proposes a legal regime for mandatory digital labeling ("etiquetado digital") of systems and applications that employ Artificial Intelligence when producing, manipulating or mediating digital content. The bill's stated aim is to provide users in Peruvian territory with proactive and intelligible notice of AI involvement to reduce deception and to support informed decision-making. Legislative communications and legal analyses published after the presentation summarize the initiative and its core obligations; see for example the congressional communication on the bill's presentation and summary coverage in legal press. For additional background see Congress communications (Huánuco) and practitioner commentary at CMS - TMC Legal bytes.

Definitions

The proposal defines core terms such as "Digital Labeling" (etiquetado digital) to mean the process of identifying and classifying the intervention of AI in creation, development or interaction of digital content. "AI system" is understood broadly to include machine learning models, generative models and automated decision systems used to create, transform or manipulate content. "Content" encompasses visual, audio, audiovisual and text-based outputs. The concept of "ultra-falsification" is used in the draft to identify synthetic content that closely resembles real persons, objects or events and that may mislead users.

Governance and Institutional Framework

The bill assigns supervisory and enforcement responsibilities to a "competent authority" empowered to conduct audits, verify compliance and impose sanctions. Although the draft summaries do not always name a single agency, the legislative communications describe the creation of procedures for the authority to audit labeling practices and require secondary regulation to set technical standards. In practice, enforcement will intersect with consumer protection and market surveillance institutions such as INDECOPI (consumer protection and competition) and sectoral regulators for finance, health and telecommunications. The bill envisions rulemaking (reglamento) to specify formats, exceptions and thresholds for obligations; see commentary at LP Derecho.

Key Focus Areas

The proposal centers on several interlocking policy areas: (1) Transparency: mandatory labeling of AI-generated or AI-manipulated content so users can distinguish synthetic outputs from human-created content; (2) Consumer protection: preventing deception and supporting informed consent; (3) Accountability and traceability: recordkeeping and provenance metadata for generated content; (4) Market surveillance: powers for audits and inspections by the competent authority; (5) Risk mitigation: special attention to high-impact synthetic content such as deepfakes and impersonation-related media; and (6) Regulatory calibration: delegating technical specifics to implementing regulations that set label formats, metadata schemas and procedural rules. The policy recognizes overlaps with data protection and intellectual property law and affirms that labeling does not remove other legal obligations (for instance consent or processing restrictions for biometric or health-related data).

Implementation Framework

Implementation is structured in two phases: immediate disclosure and labeling obligations upon entry into force, plus a follow-on rulemaking phase where the executive authority will adopt technical standards for label visibility, metadata formats, certification or conformity assessment processes, and the list of justified exceptions. Providers offering services in Peru would be required to add persistent indicators or machine-readable metadata to outputs accessible to users in Peru. The bill contemplates that the implementing regulation will define thresholds (e.g., scale of operations, nature of audience) and create administrative procedures for audits, notices of non-compliance and remediation plans. The implementing authority must coordinate with sectoral regulators (health, finance, telecoms) for sector-specific guidance.

Monitoring and Evaluation

Monitoring includes periodic audits by the competent authority, mandatory reporting by providers on labeling compliance, and mandatory retention of provenance logs for a defined period. Evaluation metrics proposed in parliamentary discussion include rates of labeled content, consumer complaints, detected instances of unlabeled synthetic content, and incidence of harms tied to synthetic media. The bill anticipates mechanisms for technical verification including sampling, forensic analysis, and cooperation with platforms to trace content origin. Public reporting and transparency of enforcement actions are foreseen to create accountability and to inform adjustments to the regime.

Penalties, Liability, and Appeals

Sanctions contemplated in the legislative summaries include administrative fines proportional to the infraction, orders to correct or remove content, temporary suspension of services in cases of repeated or severe violations, and publication of sanctions as a reputational remedy. The draft stresses civil and criminal liability for uses of AI that amount to fraud, defamation or other illegal behavior remains unaffected. Affected providers would have administrative appeal rights and access to judicial review of sanctioning decisions under Peru's administrative law framework.

Relationship to Other Instruments

The bill is designed to operate alongside existing Peruvian laws on personal data protection, consumer protection, telecommunications and intellectual property. It expressly states that labeling obligations do not substitute for informed consent where required under data protection rules and that sectoral regulations (e.g., health or financial services) may impose additional constraints. The initiative has been discussed in parallel with other AI-related bills and national AI strategy workstreams; see congressional committee materials and stakeholder consultations for cross-references to other proposals.

International Alignment

Project 6524/2023 aligns with global and regional efforts to promote transparency for synthetic media and AI systems. The proposal echoes elements present in other jurisdictions' guidance on labeling automated content and the EU's broader work on AI regulatory approaches and digital labeling (for example, debates on digital labeling of products and synthetic media). Peruvian drafters and commentators have referenced comparative practice and international policy trends to ensure compatibility and to facilitate cross-border enforcement where foreign providers serve Peruvian users. See comparative commentary at CMS Peru and legislative discussions hosted by Congress committees.

Implementation Timeline

Sources and References