Measures to control 'deepfakes', advisory to be issued for social media on compliance with laws

Union Minister Rajiv Chandrashekhar, while reviewing the steps taken to deal with the issue of 'deepfakes' and misinformation with social media platforms, has said that consultations will be held for 100 per cent compliance in the next two days.

Chandrashekhar said on social media platform 'X' that the government has a special focus on ensuring social media platforms comply with the new rules and on the trust and security of online users.

He said, 'A second meeting was held with social media companies on misinformation and deepfakes in which the progress made after the previous meeting was reviewed. Many platforms are following the decisions taken in the first meeting and advisories will be issued in the next two days to ensure 100 percent compliance. 'Deepfake' refers to manipulated media content that is digitally manipulated and altered with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) to misrepresent or represent a person.

Recently, several 'deepfake' videos targeting some film artists went viral on social media. Since then, the government has become alert about misuse of technology and tools to create manipulated content and fake narratives.

Chandrashekhar had also met representatives of social media platforms on 24 November. He had given the companies seven days to take decisive action on the deepfake issue and adapt the terms of use to the rules.

According to sources, a review meeting was held with social media platforms on Tuesday to assess the progress made since the last meeting. It revealed the fact that some forums have complied with the government instructions while some forums which failed to do so have been given additional time.

The government made it clear in the meeting that it will continue its 'zero tolerance' approach with regard to harm to users. A final meeting will be held with social media companies in a week to assess this issue. According to sources, while many social media platforms are rapidly adopting it understanding the need of the situation, some platforms have shown slowness in it.