• Source:JND
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WhatsApp, an instant messaging application, is widely popular across India for online communication. Due to its massive user base, it is also a den of fake content. In the rundown to tackle fake videos of politicians as the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections approaches, the Indian government may introduce a law that may mandate WhatsApp to reveal the person who sent the message first on the platform, according to a report from The Indian Express.

Among the reasons for the move cited in the report are the rise of AI-forged misinformation and several fake videos of politicians spreading on the platform. The authorities are reportedly in the process of forwarding an order to Meta under the Information Technology (IT) Rules, 2021, to enable them to ask for the identity of the individual who shared the deepfake clip first.

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Deepfakes are moving pictures of a person where the body or the face is altered to misrepresent their identity and boost the reach of false information. As per the report, this would be the first-ever case of sending an order by the Centre under "Section 4 (2) of the IT Rules, 2021."

Due to the massive user base of WhatsApp, it is also a den of fake content. (Image:Unsplash)

The action could be a contested move as WhatsApp and Facebook, challenging the provision, said it will "severely undermine" user privacy in a sub judice case in the Delhi High Court. The company claims it is a tool for mass surveillance and a threat to its highly-advertised end-to-end encryption protocol.

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"The videos in question depicted deepfakes of politicians from different political parties. Such fake videos of politicians from across the political aisle have been brought to our notice, which we believe can cause harm to electoral integrity in India. So we are planning to send a first originator notice to WhatsApp," a senior government official told the news publication.

IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar also expressed the government's openness to send a notice to the involved company to tackle the challenge of fake audio and video content via traceability of the origin.

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