Govt directs social media platforms to comply with IT rules amid concerns over deepfakes

According to a PIB release, the advisory stated, “The content not permitted under the IT Rules, in particular those listed under Rule 3(1)(b) must be clearly communicated to the users in clear and precise language including through its terms of service and user agreements and the same must be expressly informed to the user at the time of first-registration and also as regular reminders, in particular, at every instance of login and while uploading/sharing information onto the platform.”

It also emphasised that social media platforms must ensure users are informed about penal provisions, including those in the IPC and the IT Act 2000, in case of Rule 3(1)(b) violations.

“The users must be made aware of the various penal provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) 1860, the IT Act, 2000 and such other laws that may be attracted in case of violation of Rule 3(1)(b). In addition, the terms of service and user agreements must clearly highlight that intermediaries/platforms are under obligation to report legal violations to the law enforcement agencies under the relevant Indian laws applicable to the context,” the advisory further added.

Rule 3(1)(b) within the due diligence section of the IT rules mandates intermediaries to communicate their rules, regulations, privacy policy, and user agreement in the user’s preferred language. They are also obliged to ensure reasonable efforts to prevent users from hosting, displaying, uploading, modifying, publishing, transmitting, storing, updating, or sharing any information related to the 11 listed user harms or content prohibited on digital intermediaries. This rule aims to ensure platforms identify and promptly remove misinformation, false or misleading content, and material impersonating others, including deepfakes.

Speaking on the advisory, IT minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar stated, “Misinformation represents a deep threat to the safety and trust of users on the Internet. Deepfake which is misinformation powered by AI, further amplifies the threat to safety and trust of our Digital Nagriks. On 17th November, the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi alerted the country to the dangers of deepfakes and post that, the Ministry has had two Digital India Dialogues with all the stakeholders of the Indian Internet to alert them about the provisions of the IT Rules notified in October 2022, and amended in April 2023 that lays out 11 specific prohibited types of content on all social media intermediaries & platforms.”

Last month, the IT Ministry had pulled up the platforms for not having aligned their terms of service with India’s internet laws and told them to immediately start informing their users what can and cannot be posted on their platforms.

The Union government also nominated an officer who will help users file FIRs against social media firms in cases related to deepfakes.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sought the media’s help in educating people regarding the capabilities of Artificial Intelligence and deepfake technology while calling its capability of “fanning the flame of disaffection very rapidly” in a country as diverse and large as India “worrying”.

Several deepfake videos targeting leading actors have gone viral on social media platforms in the recent past, raising concerns over its misuse.

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