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New Delhi: In response to growing concerns over the proliferation of deepfake videos on social media, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar announced that the Centre will soon appoint an officer to address the issue. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) is set to create a website where users can register concerns about IT rule violations by social media platforms.
Meity will assist users in notifying it about IT rule violations and guide them in filing a First Information Report (FIR). The FIR will be filed against the intermediary, and if details about the content’s origin are disclosed, a case will be registered against the entity posting the content, explained the Union Minister.
Social media platforms have been given a seven-day deadline to align their terms of use with the IT rules. Rajeev Chandrasekhar emphasized a zero-tolerance approach towards IT rule violations from this point forward.
Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted concerns about the misuse of AI for creating deepfake videos, calling it a significant issue. The Centre has specified a penalty of ₹1 lakh and three years in jail for the creation and circulation of deepfakes.
The move follows worries about the potential misuse of deepfake videos targeting public figures, raising questions about AI’s ability to create misleading content. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had previously issued an advisory to social media platforms, outlining legal provisions and penalties related to deepfakes.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar emphasized that online platforms have a legal obligation to prevent the spread of misinformation, requiring them to remove reported content within 36 hours and take expeditious action under the IT Rules 2021.
