Deepfake Menace: IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw Says 'New Regulation' Soon, Meets Social Media Companies; Key Updates

Deepfake Menace:  Referring to deepfakes as a fresh challenge to democracy, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology and Communications, Ashwini Vaishnaw announced on Thursday that the government will soon introduce new regulations to address the issue. Following a meeting with social media platforms on the deepfake problem, the minister stated that companies have acknowledged the necessity for concrete measures in areas like detection, prevention, enhancing reporting mechanisms, and increasing user awareness.

"We will start drafting regulation today itself, and within a short time we will have a new set of regulations for Deepfakes ... this could be in the form of amending existing framework or bringing new rules, or new law," Vaishnaw said as quoted by ANI.

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While calling the menace of AI-generated deepfakes as a threat to democracy, he further said that the government will again meet with the social media intermediaries in December to chart a course to dismantle this threat.

"We will have our next meeting in the first week of December that will be on follow-up action on today's decisions, and also on what should be included in the draft regulation," Vaishnaw said, reported PTI.

Deepfakes can be described as synthetic or manipulated media digitally altered through artificial intelligence to deceptively portray or imitate someone. Recently, several 'deepfake' videos targeting prominent actors gained widespread attention, igniting public outcry and prompting worries about the potential abuse of technology and tools for crafting manipulated content and false narratives.

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Previously, a deepfake video featuring Bollywood actress Rashmika Mandanna went viral on platforms like X and YouTube. Later, it was revealed that the video actually portrayed a US-based Instagram influencer named Zara Patel. Many other personalities including Bollywood actress Kajol and Sachin Tendulkar's daughter Sara Tendulkar also complained of deepfakes circulating over social media.