After Modi raises flag, India works on law to tackle deepfakes

OFFICIALS of the Indian government have decided that a regulation will soon be brought in to control the menace of deepfakes that have targeted some of the country's women celebrities and even prime minister Narendra Modi, who raised concerns over it more than once in the past few days, including at the virtual G20 summit held in New Delhi on Wednesday (22).

Addressing a press conference at the meeting with social media platforms in the national capital on Thursday (23), Indian electronics and information technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said deepfakes have posed a new threat to democracy.

He said four key issues were taken up at the meeting, including how deepfakes can be detected; whether and how people can be prevented from posting them and whether they can be barred from going viral; how to implement a reporting mechanism so that users or apps or websites can alert the platform and authorities so that action can be taken; and raising public awareness about them.

According to Ashwini, the government, industry and media will have to work together to alert people about deepfakes.

He said it was clear from talks that a new regulation is required for such content and work will begin right away and the government will try to finish drafting the regulation over the next few weeks.

Recently, deepfakes of Indian actors Rashmika Mandanna, Katrina Kaif and Kajol went viral on social media platforms, triggering a major concern.