Government crackdown on deepfakes: Citizens can file FIR now

The Government of India has launched a crackdown on deepfake videos, an increasingly popular form of artificial intelligence (AI), according to Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar. This development comes a day after Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw held a meeting with major social media companies and announced that the government will soon develop new regulations to address issues related to deepfake videos.

Government crackdown on deepfake

Mr Chandrasekhar said the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) will create a platform for citizens to notify the government if social media platforms violate IT rules. The government will also help them file FIRs against these platforms if they find the content of deepfake videos objectionable.

"Meity will assist users to very easily notify it about violation of IT rules and assist them in filing FIRs," the minister said.

He spoke to the media after a meeting with social media platforms. "From today onwards there is zero tolerance for violation of IT rules," Chandrasekhar said.

The FIR will be registered against the intermediary, and if they reveal the details of where the content originated, then the FIR will be filed against the entity that published the content, the minister said.

“Today we had a very long meeting with all the players in on the internet, the intermediaries, that's how we refer them and we have raised the issue of deepfakes with them as you are aware. The Prime Minister has raised the issue that deepfakes are deeply disruptive, they can create divisions and all kinds of disruptions in communities and families. Deepfakes are very clear and present danger to the safe and trusted internet that is our goal and our policy”.

He said social media platforms have been given seven days to align their terms of use with IT rules.

On Thursday, Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw met social platforms to address issues related to deepfake videos. "We will start drafting a regulation today and within a short time we will have a new set of regulations for deepfakes... this could consist of modifying the existing framework or introducing new rules or new laws," the Minister said. the reports.

Just a few days ago, PM Narendra Modi spoke about the issue of deepfake videos, highlighting a viral video that surfaced recently showing the Prime Minister's look-alike playing Garba. Addressing the issue, the prime minister said the media must educate people about this crisis.

With inputs from PTI