Govt issues advisory to social media platforms over deepfakes

New Delhi, Nov 7 : Amid alleged deepfake video involving a TV actress, the government on Tuesday issued an advisory to social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube to identify deepfakes and remove them within 36 hours of reporting such cases.

Citing provisions of the IT Act, the Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY) in its advisory said that any non-compliance could render the organisation liable to losing the protection available under Section 79(1) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

The advisory has come a day after a deep-fake video of TV actress Rashmika Mandanna went viral on social media platforms. The video, originally created by a UK-based Indian-origin social media influencer, had been morphed using artificial intelligence to show Mandanna entering an elevator.

The MeitY advisory has asked social media intermediaries to ensure that due diligence is exercised and reasonable efforts are made to identify misinformation and deepfakes, and in particular, information that violates the provisions of rules and regulations and/or user agreements.

The advisory requires them to ensure expeditious action against the cases of deepfake contents. It mandates online platforms to remove any such content within 36 hours of reporting and ensuring expeditious action, well within the timeframes stipulated under the IT Rules 2021, and disable access to the content/information.
“The intermediaries were reminded that any failure to act as per the relevant provisions of the IT Act and Rules would attract Rule 7 of the IT Rules, 2021 and could render the organisation liable to losing the protection available under Section 79(1) of the Information Technology Act, 2000,” MeitY said in an official statement.