IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has announced an upcoming meeting between government officials and major social media platforms to address growing concerns surrounding deepfake technology.
Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on November 18, asserting that the safe harbor immunity clause will not apply if platforms do not take adequate steps to remove deepfakes.
Different types of cybercrime incidents come up around social media platforms. Among them, the cybercrime that digital media users are most concerned about today is face morphing through deepfakes.
Several ‘deepfake’ videos targeting leading actors and leaders have gone viral.Recently the terrible deepfake issue that happened with the popular Indian actress Rashmika Mandanna has already taken the netizens by storm. Now the only question in people’s minds is that if something like this can happen to such a big celebrity, then something more terrible can happen to common people! The Government of India has taken a decision to ensure that social media usage requires additional security.
Prime minister on deepfake issue
On Friday, in a related development at the BJP headquarters in Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said, “Recently, I saw a video where I was doing garba, I was impressed. It looked real; The truth is that the last time I danced garba was at school, But I never got the chance (to play garba) since my school days.” He told reporters, referring to a viral fake video of his garba dance. It was created by Artificial intelligence(AI) with the help of Deepfake method. That day he warned of a potential crisis arising from AI-generated deepfakes. He urged the media to raise awareness about the dangerous misuse of this technology and emphasized on the need to educate the public about its risks.
Decision about the upcoming meeting
“The government has recently issued a notice to social media and tech companies on the issue of deepfake and the platforms have responded,” Vaishnav said it on Saturday. the platforms responded. He also added that companies need to be stricter in taking action on such content.
It was asked if major social media platforms like Meta and Google would be invited for the meeting.
He said that the government will soon organize a meeting with all the major platforms. Probably, it will be informed in next 3-4 days.
They will be asked to think about it. This meeting will confirm whether the platforms will make adequate efforts to prevent the criminal activities of deepfakes. IT minister replied.
Ashwini Vaishnaw assured, “They are taking steps…but we think more steps need to be taken.”
Safe harbor protections allow online platforms to remove illegal content. If they have mistakenly hosted illegal content they get an opportunity to remove such content on a government or court notice.
Vaishnaw strongly clarified that social media platforms have been enjoying safe harbor immunity clause under the IT Act. It will not apply unless they take adequate measures.
