With cases emerging of ‘deepfakes’ in the recent past, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday flagged the misuse of artificial intelligence (AI), and urged media to educate people about such crisis in the making, as they could be used to purposefully spread false information.

“I recently saw a video in which I was seen singing a Garba song. There are many other such videos online,” Modi said while addressing media persons at BJP’s ‘Diwali Milan’ programme at the party’s headquarters here.

He further said that the looming threat of deepfake has become a great concern and can create a lot of problems for all citizens. Deep fakes are used to purposefully spread false information or they may have a malicious intent behind their use. They can be designed to harass, intimidate, demean and undermine people.

Penalty

To control the menace, the Centre has also recently said that creation and circulation of deepfakes will carry a penalty of ₹1 lakh fine and three years in jail.

Ensure that due diligence is exercised and reasonable efforts are made to identify misinformation and deepfakes, and in particular, information that violates the provisions of rules and regulations and/or user agreements.

The Ministry of Electronics and IT had issued the advisory saying -- such cases are expeditiously actioned against, well within the timeframes stipulated under the IT Rules 2021, and users are cautioned not to host such information/ content/ deep fakes; and remove any such content when reported within 36 hours of reporting.

Further, it also advised to ensure expeditious action, well within the timeframes stipulated under the IT Rules 2021, and disable access to the content/ information.

“Safety and trust of our Digital Nagriks is our unwavering commitment and top priority for the Narendra Modi government. Given the significant challenges posed by misinformation and deepfakes, the MeitY has issued a second advisory within the last six months, calling upon online platforms to take decisive actions against the spread of deepfakes,” Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and Electronics and IT, had said.

Meanwhile, Modi also referred to his resolve to make India ‘Viksit Bharat’ (developed India) saying these are not merely words but a ground reality and also said ‘vocal for local’ has found people’s support.

The PM also noted that India’s achievements during the Covid-19 pandemic created confidence among the people that the country is not going to stop now. “We now have a strong position on a global level, the world now acknowledges our achievements,” he added.

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