The Centre has asked all social media platforms, including X, Instagram and Facebook to remove morphed images within 24 hours of receiving a complaint under the IT rules, an official source said on Tuesday.

A deep fake video of actress Rashmika Mandanna has been circulating on social media platforms. Netizens claimed the video has been morphed and the actual video is of an Indian-origin person living in the UK.

"An advisory has been issued to all social media platforms citing clause of IT rules and obligations of social media companies," the source told PTI.

As per the advisory, social media platforms should take all measures to remove or disable content which is in the nature of impersonation in an electronic form, including artificially morphed images of such individuals within 24 hours from the receipt of a complaint in relation to the content.

The advisory mentions that social media intermediaries shall observe due diligence, including ensuring the rules and regulations, privacy policy or user agreement and inform users not to host any content that impersonates another person.

"MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) will act after social media companies fail to act as per the rule," the source said.

Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday had reacted to the deep fake video of the actress on X where he said social media companies are bound to remove any misinformation.

The minister had said that if platforms do not comply with IT rules notified in April 2023, Rule 7 will apply and platforms can be taken to court by aggrieved persons under provisions of IPC.

"Deepfakes are the latest and even more dangerous and damaging form of misinformation and need to be dealt with by platforms," the minister had said.

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