Govt warns social media platforms against spreading of ‘deepfakes’
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has issued an advisory to all intermediaries to ensure compliance with the present IT Rules of the country. In other words, all platforms of the internet, and more specifically, social media platforms, have been directed to comply with the rules.
Union Electronics and Information Technology minister Rajiv Chandrashekhar said, “Misinformation represents a deep threat to the safety and trust of users on the Internet. Deepfake, which is misinformation powered by AI, further amplifies the threat to the safety and trust of our Digital Nagriks. On 17th November, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi alerted the country to the dangers of deepfakes and post that, the Ministry has had two Digital India Dialogues with all the stakeholders of the Indian Internet to alert them about the provisions of the IT Rules notified in October 2022, and amended in April 2023 that lays out 11 specific prohibited types of content on all social media intermediaries & platforms.”
The advisory has been sent out to direct intermediaries like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and X to communicate clearly and precisely to users about prohibited content specified under IT Rules.
The advisory states, “The content not permitted under the IT Rules, in particular those listed under Rule 3(1)(b) must be clearly communicated to the users in clear and precise language including through its terms of service and user agreements and the same must be expressly informed to the user at the time of first-registration and also as regular reminders, in particular, at every instance of login and while uploading/sharing information onto the platform.”
It also says, “The users must be made aware of the various penal provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) 1860, the IT Act, 2000 and such other laws that may be attracted in case of violation of Rule 3(1)(b). In addition, the terms of service and user agreements must clearly highlight that intermediaries/platforms are under obligation to report legal violations to the law enforcement agencies under the relevant Indian laws applicable to the context.”
