Union Government issues advisory to social media intermediaries to identify misinformation and deepfakes

The Centre today issued advisory to the significant social media intermediaries to

• Ensure that due diligence is exercised and reasonable efforts are made to identify misinformation and deepfakes, and in particular, information that violates the provisions of rules and regulations and/or user agreements and
• Such cases are expeditiously actioned against, well within the timeframes stipulated under the IT Rules 2021, and
• Users are caused not to host such information/content/Deep Fakes and
• Remove any such content when reported within 36 hours of such reporting and
• Ensure expeditious action, well within the timeframes stipulated under the IT Rules 2021, and disable access to the content / information.

The intermediaries were reminded that any failure to act as per the relevant provisions of the IT Act and Rules would attract Rule 7 of the IT Rules, 2021 and could render the organisation liable to losing the protection available under Section 79(1) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

Union Minister of State for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and Electronics & IT Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar said, “Safety and trust of our Digital Nagriks is our unwavering commitment and top priority for the Narendra Modi Government. Given the significant challenges posed by misinformation and deepfakes, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) has issued a second advisory within the last six months, calling upon online platforms to take decisive actions against the spread of deepfakes.”

The Minister added that Deepfakes are a major violation and harm women in particular. Our Government takes the responsibility of safety & trust of all nagriks very very seriously, and more so about our children and women who are targeted by such content.

Elaborating further Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar said, “It is a legal obligation for online platforms to prevent the spread of misinformation by any user under the Information Technology (IT) rules, 2021. They are further mandated to remove such content within 36 hours upon receiving a report from either a user or government authority. Failure to comply with this requirement invokes Rule 7, which empowers aggrieved individuals to take platforms to court under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). It is imperative that platforms take proactive measures to combat this threat.”

“For those who find themselves impacted by deepfakes, I strongly encourage you to file First Information Reports (FIRs) at your nearest police station and avail the remedies provided under the Information Technology (IT) rules, 2021,” the Minister said while summing up.