Deepfakes: MeitY gives social media platforms 7-day deadline, to help aggrieved users in filing FIR

Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Rajeev Chandrasekhar also said that going forward the government will be taking action on 100 percent of violations under the IT Rules.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) announced on November 24 that it will be giving social media platforms seven days to align their terms of service and other policies with Indian laws and regulations in order to address the hosting of deepfakes on these platforms.

This decision was conveyed to social media platforms by the Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Rajeev Chandrasekhar following a meeting with such platforms on the issue of deepfakes.

Chandrasekhar also said that such content could be subject to action under the current IT Rules, particularly Rule 3(1)(b), which mandates the removal of 12 types of content within 24 hours of receiving user complaints. "We are asking them to comply with laws of today," he said.

Chandrasekhar also said that going forward the government will be taking action on 100 percent of violations under the IT Rules.

The Ministry of Electronics and IT will assist aggrieved users in filing FIRs in relation to deepfakes. Chandrasekhar also said that under Rule 7, an officer will be nominated who will be entrusted with building a mechanism where users can put in their complaints regarding deepfakes. MeitY may also assist such aggrieved users with filing FIRs in such cases.

This comes a day after the government will begin work on a regulation dedicated to tackling deepfakes, Minister of Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw said on November 23 after a meeting with social media platforms, as concerns mount over the use of artificial intelligence tech to spread disinformation.