"Platforms must align terms of use with 12 area prohibited on Indian internet" says Rajeev Chandrasekar on Deepfake threat

New Delhi [India], November 24 : In a move to combat the rising threat of deepfake technology, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar, addressed the media on Friday, and announced that the government has urged social media platforms to align their terms of use with the 12 areas prohibited on the Indian internet.
Emphasizing the dangers of deepfakes, Chandrasekhar stated that these manipulated videos pose a clear and present danger to a safe and trusted internet.
Chandrasekhar 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".
"Way back from October 2022, the government of India has been alerting them to the threat of misinformation and deepfakes which are a part of misinformation. The intermediaries all agreed that current IT rules and the IT Act provide for adequate compliance requirements on their part to deal with deepfakes. Even as we speak to future regulations, future law, is certainly required given that our IT act is 23 years old, it was emphasized to them again to which they have agreed that the current law and the current act and the current rules under 31B5 provide for compliance requirements by the platforms on misinformation, patently falls information and deep fakes" the Minister added.
During a meeting with internet intermediaries, Chandrasekhar raised concerns about the disruptive nature of deepfakes, highlighting their potential to create divisions within communities and families.
Since October 2022, the government has been alerting platforms to the dangers of misinformation, with deepfakes being a crucial aspect of this threat.
"This has been agreed to by the platforms, and we have said that we will follow it up with the advisory and the directive. All platforms must align and transform their terms of use with their users to be consistent with the 12 areas that are prohibited on the Indian internet under rule 31B. And the platforms have agreed in 7 days to ensure that harmonization and that alignment, so that every user on every platform is aware that when they use a platform, it should be a safe and trusted platform", Chandrasekhar said.
Chandrasekhar stated, "The platform will not tolerate these 12 types of content, 12 types of information that are been prohibited under the IT act and IT rules. We have further informed the platforms that from today onwards MEITY and the Government of India will nominate a rules and an officer and will take a 100 per cent compliance expectation from all the platforms in the 12 harms that have been laid out way back in October 2022".
The intermediaries acknowledged that the current IT rules and the IT Act already encompass adequate compliance requirements to address deepfakes.
While acknowledging the need for future regulations, the platforms agreed that the existing laws provide a foundation to tackle misinformation effectively.
The government has pushed for platforms to transform their terms of use within the next 7 days, aligning them with the prohibited content rules laid out in rule 31B under the IT Act.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) and the Government of India will nominate a rules officer to ensure 100 per cent compliance with the 12 prohibited content areas outlined in October 2022.
This move reflects the government's commitment to combating the deepfake menace, underscoring the urgency to safeguard against the detrimental impacts of this evolving technology.