India mulling regulation to tame deepfakes: Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

New Delhi: Calling deepfakes a new threat to democracy, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday said that the government is mulling regulations to tackle the spread of deepfakes and other user harm that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can bring along.

After meeting representatives from social media platforms and other stakeholders on the deepfake issue, the Minister said that companies have agreed on the need for clear actionable work in areas such as detection, prevention, strengthening of reporting mechanism, and raising user awareness.

“The social media companies share our concerns and they understand that deepfakes are not free speech. We will start drafting the regulation today itself, and within a short time we will have a new set of regulations for deepfakes … this could be in the form of amending existing framework or bringing new rules, or new law,” Vaishnaw told reporters.

The IT Ministry will also look at imposing penalties on those who create deepfake videos.

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“We will have our next meeting in the first week of December…that will be on follow-up action on today’s decisions, and also on what should be included in the draft regulation,” Vaishnaw said.

Speaking on the deepfake issue during a media interaction last week, Vaishnaw said, “Deepfake is a big issue for all of us.” Deepfake technology poses a significant threat to the privacy and individual rights of public figures.

Deepfakes involve the use of artificial intelligence to digitally manipulate and alter media, creating synthetic content that convincingly misrepresents or impersonates individuals.

Several ‘deepfake’ videos of leading actors including Rashmika Mandanna, Katrina Kaif and Kajol have gone viral on social media platforms in the recent past, sparking public outrage and raising concerns over the misuse of technology for creating fake narratives.

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Advertisements and sponsored posts on social media have been found to contain deepfakes of Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar and Virat Kohli. While Shah Rukh Khan is seen in a deepfake video for a game called Aviator, Kohli’s deepfake is in a video promoting a betting game.

It can be used to create convincing fake videos that can potentially harm a person's reputation or even incite legal action. Deepfake technology can be weaponised to create deceptive content that poses a threat to national security.

It can also be used to manipulate public sentiment, create forged videos of politicians or leaders, and potentially incite chaos or conflicts, according to experts.

Earlier this month, Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, said that those who find themselves impacted by AI-generated deepfakes should file First Information Reports (FIRs) at the nearest police stations and avail the remedies provided under the Information Technology (IT) Rules, 2021 and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

It is a legal obligation for online platforms to prevent the spread of misinformation by any user under the Information Technology (IT) Rules, 2021.

With inputs from agencies

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