IT ministry sends social media firms two letters on deepfake regulations

THE LETTERS WERE ISSUED BY THE MINISTRY'S CYBER LAWS DIVISION AS FOLLOW-UPS TO THE ADVISORY ON DEEPFAKES SENT IN FEBRUARY

- Aditi Agrawal

The Union ministry of electronics and IT on Tuesday directed social media platforms to ensure that they act to weed out misinformation and deepfakes as mandated by Indian law, a day after a viral fake video of Telugu actor Rashmika Mandanna sparked concerns about the misuse of artificial intelligence and its potential to further gender violence online.

The ministry's two letters, dated November 6 and 7, were issued by the cyber laws division of the ministry as follow-ups to the advisory on deepfakes sent in February.

They reminded the social media platforms of their obligations under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code), 2021.

"As per the laws in force, such content/information which violates the IT Act/Rules, should be removed or access disabled upon receipt of court orders or notification from the Appropriate Government or its authorised agency or based on a complaint made by the impersonated individual or person authorised by him in this behalf," one of the letters said. HT has seen copies of both the letters.

The letter dated November 6 did not give a timeline to remove such content or cite specific rules.