India will come up with new regulations to tackle deepfakes, the Union IT Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Thursday.
The govt, on Thursday, revealed plans to draft new regulations or amend existing laws in order to deal with the deepfake menace. Deepfakes involve digitally altering a person’s face or body in videos to make them appear as someone else, often leading to the spread of false information.
The comprehensive plan outlined by Mr. Vaishnaw focuses on four key pillars: detection of deepfakes, prevention by removing or reducing their virality, strengthening reporting mechanisms, and spreading awareness about the technology. Recent incidents, including morphed videos of personalities from cinema and politics circulating on social media, have heightened concerns in India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had flagged concerns on deepfakes pointing out that the use of AI for creating such content was “problematic”.
After chairing a meeting with social media platforms, artificial intelligence (AI) companies and industry bodies, Mr. Vaishnaw said the government will come up with a “clear, actionable plan” to tackle deepfakes and misinformation in the next ten days. Emphasizing that deepfakes are not a form of free speech, he suggested the need for labelling or watermarking to facilitate clear identification of content.
