Deepfakes: Centre to issue advisories to social media firms for 100% compliance

New Delhi : The IT Ministry will issue advisories to social media intermediaries in the next two days on ensuring 100 per cent compliance on tackling deepfakes and spread of misinformation on their respective platforms, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Tuesday.

During the second 'Digital India Dialogues' meeting on misinformation and deepfakes with social media intermediaries, the minister reviewed the progress made since the meeting on November 24, when the Centre had given a seven-day deadline to platforms to tweak their policies as per Indian regulations in order to address the spread of deepfakes.

"Many platforms are responding to the decisions taken last month and advisories on ensuring 100 per cent compliance will be issued in the next two days," said the minister.

"A new amended #ITRules to further ensure compliance of platforms, and safety and trust of #DigitalNagriks is actively under consideration," Chandrasekhar added.

Deepfakes could be subject to action under the current IT Rules, particularly Rule 3(1)(b), which mandates the removal of 12 types of content within 24 hours of receiving user complaints. The government will also take action of 100 per cent of such violations under the IT Rules in the future.

"The intermediaries are further mandated to remove such content within 24 hours upon receiving a report from either a user or government authority. Failure to comply with this requirement invokes Rule 7, which empowers aggrieved individuals to take platforms to court under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)," the minister said.

"For those who find themselves impacted by deepfakes, I strongly encourage you to file First Information Reports (FIRs) at your nearest police station," said Chandrasekhar, adding that the IT Ministry will help aggrieved users in filing FIRs in relation to deepfakes.

India is mulling regulation to tame the spread of deepfakes and other user harm that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can bring along. The Delhi High Court on Monday sought Central government's response in a PIL regarding the absence of regulations for AI and deepfake technologies in the country.

As the Indian government takes a tough stand on AI-generated fake content, especially deepfakes, Google said late last month the company's collaboration with the Indian government for a multi-stakeholder discussion aligns with its commitment to addressing this challenge together and ensures a responsible approach to AI.