New Delhi: In the wake of rising cases of deepfakes, the Delhi High Court has directed the Centre to nominate members for a panel to examine the issue of deepfakes. The direction from the high court came after it was informed by the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) that a committee had been formed on November 20 on deepfake matters.
Earlier, the court had directed the Centre to file a status report on the steps being taken by it to counter the menace of deepfake technology, which is increasing every day.
The development comes as two pleas were filed on the menace of deepfake technology. One of the pleas was filed by Rajat Sharma, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Independent News Service Private Limited (INDIA TV). In the plea, Rajat Sharma sought regulation of deepfake technology in the country and directions to block public access to apps and software enabling the creation of such content.
In the PIL, Rajat Sharma said that the proliferation of deepfake technology poses a significant threat to various aspects of society, including misinformation and disinformation campaigns, and undermines the integrity of public discourse and the democratic process. The plea further stated that there is a threat of potential use of this technology in fraud, identity theft, and blackmail; harm to individual reputation, privacy, and security; erosion of trust in media and public institutions; and violation of intellectual property rights and privacy rights.
The other plea was filed by Chaitanya Rohilla, a lawyer, against deepfakes and the unregulated use of artificial intelligence.
Earlier, the Centre had submitted that it was actively taking measures to address and mitigate the issues related to deepfake technology. A bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela directed the central government to nominate the members within a week. The Supreme Court had further directed the committee to invite the experiences and suggestions of a few of the stakeholders, like the intermediary platforms, telecom service providers, victims of deepfakes, and websites that provide and deploy deepfakes, before submitting its report.
"The committee shall submit its report as expeditiously as possible, preferably within three months," the bench said and listed the matter for hearing on March 24. It should be noted that the deepfake technology facilitates the creation of realistic videos, audio recordings, and images that can manipulate and mislead the viewers by superimposing the likeness of one person onto another, altering their words and actions, thereby presenting a false narrative or spreading misinformation.
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