Govt advisory asks social media firms, intermediaries to axe deepfake content

The government has sent an advisory to all social media and internet intermediaries, asking them to take strict action on any deep-fake content under the Information Technology (IT) Act of 2000 and the IT Rules of 2021, people in the know said.

In its advisory sent on Tuesday, the Ministry of Electronics and IT has cited Section 66D of the IT Act as well as Rules 3(1)(b)(vii) and Rule 3(2)(b) of the IT Rules, and asked the intermediaries to take immediate action against such deep-fake photos, videos or any other such content, they said.

“Both the IT Act and IT Rules have clear instructions which place the onus on social media intermediaries to ensure such deep-fake videos or photos are taken down as soon as possible. In case of failure, there are provisions for imprisonment of up to three years of fine of Rs 1 lakh,” a senior government official said.

While 3(1)(b)(vii) of the IT Rules mandates that social media intermediaries must ensure that the users of their platform do not host any content which impersonates another person, Rule 3(2)(b) requires such content to be taken down within 24 hours of receipt of a complaint against such content.

"Given the significant challenges posed by misinformation and deepfakes, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has issued a second advisory within the last six months, calling upon online platforms to take decisive actions against the spread of deepfakes," minister of state for electronics and information technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said.

Deep fakes, he said, were a "major violation" and harmed women in particular.

The IT ministry’s advisory comes a day after a deep-fake video of actor Rashmika Mandanna went viral on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).

The video drew sharp responses from several Bollywood actors who said that such creations were a matter of grave concern.

In his statement on Tuesday, Chandrasekhar said those impacted by deep fakes should file an FIR to avail of the remedies provided under the IT Act.

Though day-to-day compliance on curbing such content is a cumbersome process, it is the only way to bring down such crime, protecting users and ensuring ethical use of technologies such as deep-fake, Gaurav Sahay, a partner at law firm SNG & Partners, told ET.

"Social media platforms, rather than counting the difficulties of countering, should rather look at preventing them, for which they do already have the resources and capabilities," Sahay said.