Indian government instructed Meta platforms such as Facebook and YouTube on Friday to constantly remind their users to refrain from posting deepfakes, obscenity, and fake news on their platforms.
During a closed-door meeting, the Deputy IT Minister, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, presented this warning. He highlighted that despite the new rules issued in 2022, many companies have still not upgraded their policies. These policies mainly relate to the prohibition of posting content “harmful to children” as well as “obscene content that impersonates others.”
This interesting development has come following growing concerns related to deepfakes, the apparently realistic but forged videos created with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). However, one of the notable ministers revealed that rules to limit its usage are in process.
Chandrasekhar added that the companies should raise awareness of the rules by reiterating them to users each time they log in, informing them that they should refrain from posting such content. However, in case it is not implemented, he stated that the companies will be obliged to do so, as informed by confidential sources whose names cannot be revealed at this point.
The implementation of this rule is a “non-negotiable” demand of the Indian government, asserted the minister during the meeting.
India’s IT ministry stated in a press release that all platforms had agreed to align their content guidelines with government rules.
The same concern was raised during a virtual summit of G20 nations on Wednesday, where the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, called on global leaders to come together in regulating AI, raising significant concerns over the negative impacts of deepfakes on society.
Nevertheless, countries across the globe are striving to restrict AI. India has also emerged as a nation that understands the potential damage misinformation can cause. Even in the last year, the Indian government severely criticized several companies for not taking down fake information from their websites.
