1. IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announces plans for new legislation or amendments to tackle the deepfake issue in India.
2. The focus is on penalizing both creators and platforms hosting deepfake content to curb potential harm to democracy.
3. The minister underscores the threat of deepfakes in eroding trust within society and its institutions.
New Delhi, Nov 23: India’s IT Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, announced on Thursday that the government will introduce new legislation or amend existing laws to address the issue. The focus is on penalizing both creators of deepfake content and the platforms hosting such material. The minister emphasized the potential harm that deepfakes pose to democracy by eroding trust in society and its institutions.
Following discussions with stakeholders, including social media platforms, Nasscom, and AI experts, Vaishnaw outlined a four-pillar approach to address the deepfake challenge.
These pillars include the detection of deepfakes, prevention of their spread, strengthening reporting mechanisms, and increasing awareness about the issue. The minister expects actionable items on these fronts to be developed within 10 days.
During a press briefing, Vaishnaw expressed concerns about the rapid spread of deepfakes, particularly through social media, and highlighted their potential to go viral unchecked. He emphasized the urgent need for measures to reinforce trust in society and democracy.
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While social media platforms acknowledged the threat of deepfakes and committed to deploying advanced technology to detect them, Vaishnaw warned that their immunity under the ‘safe harbor’ clause in the Information Technology Act would be jeopardized if they failed to take effective measures against deepfakes. The ‘safe harbor’ clause protects online platforms from being held accountable for user-generated content.
Vaishnaw pointed out the challenges posed by deepfake advertisements and misleading content in Indian society. He stressed the importance of preventing harm and giving users the ability to distinguish between real and synthetic content.
The minister acknowledged the ingenuity of deepfake creators in circumventing labeling and watermarks, prompting the need for innovative solutions. Vaishnaw hinted at the possibility of disallowing apps that facilitate the creation of deepfakes or imposing certain restrictions on them.
In the context of recent deepfake incidents involving Bollywood actors and even Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vaishnaw highlighted the gravity of the issue. He mentioned that the December meeting on deepfakes will discuss follow-up actions based on the outcomes of the current discussions, raising the question of whether apps enabling deepfake creation should be prohibited or subjected to restrictions.
