Global AI Conclave: India to address deepfakes with tweaks, not sweeping laws, says MeitY secretary S Krishnan

MeitY secretary S Krishnan in conversation with CNBC TV18's Shereen Bhan at the CNBC TV18 and Moneycontrol Global AI Conclave in Bengaluru on November 22

Terming the menace of deepfakes as a "technology issue," Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) secretary S Krishnan on November 22 said that India will not need a complete regulatory overhaul to deal with the technology, but a few minor tweaks in existing regulations to ensure speedy compliance.

Krishnan who was speaking at a panel "Inside IndiaAI Mission" at the CNBC-TV18 and Moneycontrol Global AI Conclave event in Bengaluru said, "Deepfakes are not a regulatory issue, it is a technology issue, and a timeliness issue. At best, it may need a few tweaks to make sure the response is faster as opposed to the requirement to change the law fundamentally."

Krishnan’s comments come at a critical juncture when deepfakes are increasingly being weaponised for misinformation, fraud, raising global concerns over their potential to undermine trust in digital content.

Krishnan indicated that the government is against introducing stringent legislations, keeping in mind that India is still at an "innovation stage" when it comes to artificial intelligence and that the government will have to play its part in promoting that.

"I am not very concerned that we don't have a law that will address these issues. The California law (artificial intelligence safety bill) that got vetoed at the end, is at one extreme existential end. We have not gone there at the end," Krishnan said.

"I don't think we should be legislating at that scale right now. We are at an innovation stage, and we need to recognise that we need to promote innovation," he added.

The secretary also commended platforms for voluntarily taking down a lot of such content.

"The other experience that we have found, in working with larger platforms is that there is a fair amount of voluntary compliance. The (compliance) reports by the intermediaries show that they take down a large number based on their community guidelines. We see that cooperation," he added.