Addressing significant apprehensions regarding the deepfake phenomenon, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology and Communications, Ashwini Vaishnaw, conducted a high-level meeting to discuss the challenges associated with deepfake content.
For those unaware, deepfakes involve digitally manipulated and altered synthetic or doctored media that convincingly misrepresents or impersonates individuals, utilizing artificial intelligence.
Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw Announces Introduction of New Regulations For Deepfakes
During the meeting, he declared that the government would soon introduce new regulations to counter deepfakes.
The minister engaged with major social media platforms, leading AI tool companies, NASSCOM, and AI experts during the meeting. Vaishnaw conveyed to reporters that the process of drafting regulations would commence immediately, aiming to establish a new set of rules or laws for addressing deepfake concerns. He characterized deepfakes as a “new threat to society” and stressed the need for urgent action.
He stated, “Deep fake has emerged as a new threat in the society. We need to take immediate steps. Today a meeting was held with social media platforms. We’ve to focus on four aspects-detection, prevention, reporting mechanism of deep fake and awareness needs to be increased.”
Vaishnaw highlighted the urgency by stating, “New regulations will be brought and in the coming weeks, efforts will be made to complete the drafting of regulations…Social media companies, NASSCOM, and professors working on Artificial intelligence (AI) were also present in today’s meeting.”
First Meeting To be Conducted in First Week of December
The minister outlined that the next meeting with stakeholders would take place in the first week of December to review and follow up on the decisions made during the initial meeting.
This development follows Vaishnaw’s announcement on November 18, where he revealed that the government had issued notices to companies concerning the deepfake issue. While acknowledging positive responses from the platforms, he urged them to take more assertive measures in addressing such content.
Vaishnaw made it explicit that the ‘safe harbor immunity’ currently enjoyed by platforms under the Information Technology (IT) Act would not be applicable unless they promptly took decisive action. The concerns about deepfake content arose after several AI-generated ‘deepfake’ videos targeting actors gained viral traction on social media. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed caution, emphasizing that deepfakes could lead to a crisis and contribute to societal discontent.
