Govt Asks Social Media Companies To Remove Deep Fakes

MeitY issued an advisory & asked all the major social media platforms to remove the deep fake images & videos within 24 hours after getting a user complaint.

According to reports, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has instructed Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, and other social media platforms to take “reasonable and practicable measures” to block or remove access to “deep fake imagery” in accordance with the IT Rules, 2021.

According to a warning from MeitY, these sites must take down such images within 24 hours of receiving a complaint.

A person’s identity, including the face and voice, are perfectly replaced with someone else’s in deep fakes, which are forged or fake videos made using deep learning, a type of artificial intelligence.

In accordance with Rule 3(2)(b) of the IT Regulations, the MeitY guidance further stated that this content might constitute electronic impersonation, including electronically modified photos of a specific individual.

The ministry has been notified of deep fakes by agencies, including some in the Ministry of Home Affairs, according to a MeitY source mentioned in the paper (MHA). MeitY has consequently requested that the businesses check into the situation.

The ministry is anticipating an immediate response from the businesses on the matter and will then extend an invitation to them for a conversation on how to limit deep fakes.

It also emphasized that there have been cases of AI-generated deep fakes that deceive users by producing manipulated material.

According to the IT Regulations, 2021, social media websites with more than 50,000 registered members are considered “major social media intermediaries” in India.

In an effort to keep the internet “secure, trusted, and accountable,” the government has periodically amended the IT Regulations. 

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Last month, MeitY recommended another change to the IT Regulations, requiring social media sites to remove news or material that has been deemed “false” by the Press Information Bureau’s Fact Checking Unit.