India releases guidelines to tackle deepfakes and safeguard users; Get complete information

Deepfakes have emerged as a growing worry in recent times, with numerous well-known individuals, including celebrities, being targeted. In some cases, malicious actors have gone as far as deceiving victims through the use of deepfakes or fabricated voices. Although artificial intelligence (AI) advancements have brought about increased efficiency and convenience for users, they have also been exploited for fraudulent activities and identity theft. Following discussions with technology and social media firms, the Indian government has released a guidance for these platforms. Learn more about this advisory.

Government advice against deep counterfeiting

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued advice to all brokers, which specifically concerns the increase in deep counterfeiting. For the uninitiated, deepfakes are AI-generated videos, images, and audio that are edited or manipulated to make someone say or do something they didn’t do in real life.

The Indian government’s advisory aims to ensure that social media platforms comply with existing IT rules. It states that all intermediaries must inform users of prohibited content, particularly as defined in Rule 3(1)(b) of the IT Rules, “clearly and accurately”. This should be done through terms of service and user agreements. In addition, users should be informed about it during the first registration and at regular intervals, such as after each login.

Union Minister for Electronics and Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said: “An official advisory has been issued today containing ‘agreed-upon’ procedures to ensure that users of these platforms do not violate the prohibited content of Rule 3(1)(b). and if such violations are detected or reported MeitY will closely monitor the brokers’ compliance in the coming weeks and will follow this up with further changes to the IT rules and/or the law if necessary.

Past cases

There have been several cases where deep fakes have been exposed. A deep fake of actress Rashmika Mandanna surfaced on social media some time back, while other celebrities like Priyanka Chopra, Alia Bhatt and Kajol have fallen prey. It should be noted that fake AI-generated audio clips of Prime Minister Narendra Modi have also surfaced online.