Crackdown on deepfakes in India

- Platforms that create and display deepfakes will be fined: Vaishnav

New Delhi . Union Communications and Information Technology Minister Ani Vaishnav termed 'deepfakes' as a 'threat to democracy' and said on Thursday that the government is preparing to bring new rules in this regard. Under this, fines can be imposed on both the makers of 'deepfakes' and the related platforms. 'Deepfakes have emerged as a new threat to democracy,' he said after a meeting with various stakeholders, including social media platforms, NASSCOM and other professors in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). These can weaken the trust in the society and its institutions.' Vaishnav said that the government will within 10 days work on four pillars... detecting 'deepfakes', stopping the spread of such content, strengthening the mechanism for reporting it and Will take actionable steps to spread awareness on the issue. He said all stakeholders present at the meeting expressed similar concerns regarding ‘deepfakes’.  The minister said, 'All social media platforms agreed to use comprehensive technology to detect 'deepfakes'.' India has more than 80 crore internet users, which is expected to increase to more than 120 crore in two years. Vaishnav said that ‘deepfake’ advertisements or misleading propaganda is a threat that Indian society is currently facing. He told reporters here, 'The use of social media ensures that 'deepfakes' spread rapidly without any restriction. This is why we need to take immediate steps to strengthen trust in society and our democracy.

what is deepfake

In this, using artificial intelligence (AI), someone else is shown in place of the person present in a photo or video. There is so much similarity in it that it is very difficult to differentiate between real and fake. Recently, several 'deepfake' videos targeting various Bollywood actors surfaced on the social media platform. Many people expressed their displeasure over this. This has also raised many questions about misuse of technology and equipment to create fake content.