Govt To Notify Amendment To IT Rules In A Week To Crackdown On Deepfakes

The union government is reportedly set to notify amendments to the IT Rules in the next seven days to crackdown on deepfakes, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said.

Speaking at the sidelines of an event, the MoS flagged the ‘mixed compliance’ of social media intermediaries and online platforms with the previous advisory on the matter, as per news agency PTI.

He said the government had previously warned the platforms that it would amend the IT Rules if the advisory is not implemented fully. 

“There has been a mixed performance of compliance and I had said at the time of the advisory, that if we find that the advisory is not being followed through completely, we will follow it up with a very clear amended IT rules that will be notified,” Chandrasekhar was quoted as saying. 

The MoS added that the contents of advisory would now be ‘firmly embedded’ within the contours of the new IT Rules that will likely be floated in the next one week. 

The crackdown comes days after Chandrasekhar said that the government would actively monitor social media platforms for compliance with the advisory related to deepfakes.

Earlier this week, former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar publicly lashed out against a synthetic video that surfaced online. The manipulated video depicted Tendulkar endorsing a gaming platform and falsely claiming that his daughter Sara had reaped financial benefits from the app. 

“These videos are fake. It is disturbing to see rampant misuse of technology. Request everyone to report videos, ads & apps like these in large numbers. Social media platforms need to be alert and responsive to complaints. Swift action from their end is crucial to stopping the spread of misinformation and deepfakes,” Tendulkar said on X.

Deepfakes came into the news last year after one such video featuring actor Rashmika Mandanna went viral online, prompting outcry from netizens. Responding to the deepfake menace, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued a new set of advisory for all social media platforms to curb such videos and misinformation enabled by them.

The advisory directed online platforms to ‘clearly and precisely’ inform their respective users about what kind of content is prohibited, especially the ones specified under Rule 3(1)(b) of the IT Rules.

Prior to that in December 2023, YouTube India director Ishan John Chatterjee said that deepfakes were not in the interest of the video-sharing platform. He added that advertisers wanted to steer clear of platforms that allow manipulated content.