Poll time deepfakes, misinformation vindicate need of fact-check unit: Rajeev Chandrasekhar 

Union minister of state for electronics and information technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar

The use of deepfakes and misinformation in the Lok Sabha election campaign to create false narratives has vindicated the government’s decision to set up a fact-checking unit, Union minister and BJP candidate from Thiruvananthapuram, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, told Moneycontrol in an exclusive interview.

“In a lot of ways, what is playing out is a vindication of what we said as a government prior to the election — that misinformation can and will be weaponised. And that we have to figure out a way to be able to label what is patently wrong or patently false,” he said.

“The Supreme Court is scrutinising it. But misinformation is going to be weaponised by parties who want to create chaos in democratic societies and who cannot compete on the basis of ideas. They will only do this.”

WATCH | EXCLUSIVE: MoS Electronics And IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar Speaks Exclusively To Moneycontrol

The Supreme Court had on March 21 stayed the implementation of amendments to the information technology rules that allowed a fact-check unit to be set up to verify news items appearing in media about the government, saying it involved serious constitutional questions.

The apex court’s order came a day after the ministry of electronics and information technology notified the fact-checking unit after the Bombay High Court refused a stay on it.

In a year when many countries like the US, UK and Germany are expected to have national elections, Chandrasekhar said democratic, open societies where free speech is protected by law will increasingly have to deal with the challenges of misinformation.

“Regulations will continue to evolve and continue to grow. But it is not so much about that as much as enforcement. And I think we have to figure out a way of enforcing this, especially when there are absolutely patently false facts being put out there during a critical process like an election, especially when foreign interests are meddling in our elections,” he said.

The minister, who is also a veteran technology entrepreneur, said that it was the Election Commission’s job to ensure the implementation of laws to curb misinformation in the polls.

“We have the IT rules that forbid deepfakes and prescribe prosecution for those who use misinformation. All of that is there. That is something that the party has repeatedly brought to the attention of the Election Commission,” he said.

“The election commission has belatedly put out this advisory to all the parties saying that if you do misinformation, especially in the wake of what happened with Home Minister Amit Shah’s video, you can be prosecuted. That has slowed down the deepfakes manipulation of videos and photographs on the part of the Congress at the current moment. But verbalising lies and misinformation continues.”

A 'deepfake morphed video' of Union home minister Amit Shah resulted in FIRs being lodged against functionaries of the Telangana Congress.

With artificial intelligence-generated content on politicians storming social media platforms in the time of polls, the Election Commission of India has warned parties against the use of deepfakes and set a three-hour deadline for taking down such items after being spotted.

The poll panel directed the political parties to not allow their respective social media handles to publish and circulate deepfake audios/videos which violate the provisions of extant rules and regulations.

Recent deepfake videos of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee dancing have triggered controversies on social media platforms. The Kolkata Police issued notices to users who uploaded the content.