The Centre on Friday warned social media firms including Facebook and YouTube to repeatedly remind users that local laws prohibit them from posting deepfakes and content that spreads obscenity or misinformation.
It will also assist citizens in filing FIRs against social media platforms for violation of IT rules in cases such as deep fakes.
The warning was conveyed by deputy IT minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar in a closed-door meeting on Friday where he said many companies had not updated their usage terms despite 2022 rules that prohibit content “harmful” to children, obscene or that “impersonates another person”.
It comes amid growing concerns over deepfakes — realistic yet fabricated videos created by artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms trained on online footage.
“All platforms and intermediaries have agreed that the current laws and rules —
even as we discuss new laws and regulations — allow them to deal with deepfakes conclusively,” Chandrasekhar said
In the next seven days, the minister said, the platforms will ensure that all the terms and conditions with users, will expressly forbid users from 11 types of content laid out in IT rules.
“From today onwards there is zero tolerance for violation of IT rules,” Chandrasekhar said.
According to a report by Reuters, the minister said social media firms must raise awareness of the rules by reminding users every time they log in that they cannot post such content, or by issuing reminders. Otherwise, he will issue directions forcing them to do so.
Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, forbids harmful content.
Section 7 of the IT rules deals with revoking the intermediary status of social media platforms and taking action against them as per Indian Penal Code.
Filing FIRs
The minister said the IT ministry will develop a platform on which users can notify about IT rule violations by social media platforms by filing FIRs.
“The ministry will assist users to very easily notify it about violation of IT rules and assist them in filing FIRs.”
The FIR will be registered against the intermediary and if they disclose the details from where the content has originated, the FIR will be filed against the entity that has posted the content.
With inputs from Reuters
