New Delhi, Aug 8 The government is conscious of the threats posed by deepfakes powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI), including synthetic audio, video and text. Such content can seriously impact a person’s dignity, reputation, and right to privacy. It also raises concerns about platform accountability, the Parliament was informed on Friday.
To ensure an open, safe, trusted and accountable cyberspace for users, Government of India has enacted laws such as the information of technology act, 2000 (IT Act), Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (“IT Rules, 2021”), Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (“DPDP Act”) and other that address various aspects of the deepfake challenge, Jitin Prasada, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, said in a reply in Rajya Sabha.
The Information Technology Act, 2000, provide the foundation to act against identity theft, impersonation, privacy breaches, and the spread of obscene or misleading content.
The IT Rules, 2021, amended in 2022 and 2023, mandate platforms to exercise due diligence, remove unlawful content promptly, and increase user awareness around deepfakes and misinformation.
The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, further strengthens safeguards by penalising misuse of personal data, while the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, introduces stricter provisions against the spread of disinformation and organised cybercrimes.
According to the minister, to enforce these laws, the government has issued advisories to digital platforms, emphasising the need to remove synthetic content that impersonates individuals, and to inform users about the unreliability of certain AI-generated outputs.
Platforms are also directed to comply with grievance redressal timelines, particularly under the Grievance Appellate Committees (GACs) mechanism, the minister said.
India’s cybercrime response ecosystem is supported by institutions like the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), the SAHYOG portal for automated takedown notices, and the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, where citizens can report misuse, including deepfake-related offences.
CERT-In, India’s cybersecurity agency, continues to issue advisories on AI-related threats, with its latest guidance released in November 2024.
Awareness campaigns like Cyber Jagrookta Diwas and Cyber Security Awareness Month further empower citizens to stay vigilant against digital threats.
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