Mark a fake for legal protection's sake

GoI's proposal for compulsory declarations by all social media users when posting AI-generated or -modified content should be accepted. India is moving close on the heels of the EU and China to distinguish synthetic content. Laws against impersonation in the country provide reactive deterrence, while content created by bots calls for proactive measures. The proposed label imposes two sets of guard rails for creators and platforms, which should clarify ethical preferences. Most platforms require creators to declare if their content is generated synthetically, and they have the technical ability to weed it out. GoI is proposing to make declarations by creators and identification by platforms mandatory. For good measure, it's defining synthetic content as well.

Labelling AI-generated content has assumed urgency in the absence of explicit protection for personality rights in India. Celebrities vulnerable to impersonation by deepfakes are securing these rights through judicial interventions. But this does not address the risks faced by the population at large. Consumer rights require a stronger layer of security than is available through a patchwork of legislation. As tech matures, synthetic content will become indistinguishable, unless tracers are embedded in it. Fortunately, identification mechanisms are available to social media platforms as they move towards a harmonised approach to declaring content created by bots.

The proposal is nuanced about freedom of speech. It doesn't impose any additional strictures on synthetic content - just that it be labelled as such. Deepfakes can play an informative/entertainment purpose (recreations, etc) if used ethically and transparently, and should enjoy protected expression. A raft of legal remedies should be enacted to prevent political, commercial and security abuse. But laws may struggle to keep pace with rapid AI development. Specific extra safeguards will be needed for synthetic content. Those measures will support the initial step of labelling AI-generated content on social media.