New regulation to tackle deepfake soon, creators , platforms to be held accountable: Minister
Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that a draft of new regulation on deepfake will be prepared in the next few weeks.
Union IT minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar on Monday issued a stern warning to online social media platforms over the misinformation and it’s evolving new forms such as deep fake. The reaction from the minister came in response to a viral deep fake video featuring actress Rashmika Mandhana.
Reacting to the video, Chandrashekhar said that the central government is committed to ensure safety of all internet users and reminded the digital platforms of their legal obligations to combat misinformation.
“Under the IT rules notified in April, 2023 – it is a legal obligation for platforms to ensure no misinformation is posted by any user AND ensure that when reported by any user or govt, misinformation is removed in 36 hrs…,” he said in response to an X user who called for a legal framework to fight the deep fake menace and shared Mandhana’s deep fake video.
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There is an urgent need for a legal and regulatory framework to deal with deepfake in India.
You might have seen this viral video of actress Rashmika Mandanna on Instagram. But wait, this is a deepfake video of Zara Patel.
This thread contains the actual video. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/SidP1Xa4sT
— Abhishek (@AbhishekSay) November 5, 2023
The minister further informed that aggrieved person can go to court seeking against platforms if they don’t comply with the rules.
“If platforms do not comply wth this, rule 7 will apply and platforms can be taken to court by aggrieved person under provisions of IPC,” he added.
Terming deep fakes “even more dangerous and damaging form of misinformation”, the IT minister said that platforms need to dealt with the menace.
Earlier, Bollywood actor Amitabh Bacchan had also reacted to the deep fake video featuring Mandhana and called for urgent legal framework to deal with it. The original video also shared in the same X thread belonged to a British-Indian woman.
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