Daily News Analysis

Govt directs social media platforms to comply with IT rules amid concerns over deepfakes

stylish_lining

Context: The advisory by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) mandates that intermediaries communicate prohibited content, particularly those specified under Rule 3(1)(b) of the IT Rules, clearly and precisely to users.

News:

  • The Indian government issued an advisory to social media platforms regarding compliance with IT rules, specifically addressing concerns about deepfakes. The advisory follows a meeting between officials from companies like Meta, Google, Telegram, Koo, Sharechat, Apple,  HP, and Dell with Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar regarding the threat of deepfakes.
  • Social media platforms are mandated to inform users about content not permitted under IT Rules, especially those listed in Rule 3(1)(b), during registration and regularly during logins or information uploads.
  • Platforms must ensure users are aware of penal provisions, including those in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the IT Act 2000, in case of Rule 3(1)(b) violations.

    Rule 3(1)(b) within the IT rules' due diligence section requires intermediaries to communicate their rules, regulations, privacy policy, and user agreement in the user's preferred language and prevent the hosting or sharing of specified prohibited content.

  • The advisory aims to combat misinformation, deepfakes powered by AI, and to enhance the safety and trust of users on the internet.
  • The government nominated an officer to assist users in filing FIRs against social media firms in cases related to deepfakes.

 

Deepfakes

  • They refer to fake content, including videos, images, and audio, generated using advanced artificial intelligence tools.
  • The term "deepfake" originated in 2017 when a Reddit user named "deepfakes" posted explicit videos of celebrities.
  • The technology behind deepfakes involves the use of generative adversarial networks (GANs), a machine learning technique. GANs modify or create images and videos by learning subjects' movements and facial expressions from SOURCE material and replicating them in another medium.
  • Creators use a large database of SOURCE images to ensure the realism of deepfakes, often targeting public figures, celebrities, and politicians.
  • The process includes using one software to create a fake video based on the dataset and another software to detect signs of forgery. The collaborative effort refines the fake video until it becomes challenging for the second software to identify the forgery.
  • This approach, known as "unsupervised learning," allows machine-language models to teach themselves, making it difficult for other software to distinguish deepfakes.

India-UK Vision 2035

The Indian Prime Minister's visit to London was indeed a significant diplomatic milestone, as it unveiled the India–UK Vision 2035 roadmap and formalized the Comprehensive Economic and T
Share It

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989

The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 is a critical piece of legislation designed to protect the rights and dignity of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled
Share It

Financial Inclusion Index

The Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index), as reported by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), is a key metric that measures the level of financial inclusion across the country. Overview of the Fin
Share It

International Seabed Authority

The International Seabed Authority (ISA) is currently in the midst of negotiations regarding the extraction of metals from the high seas, particularly as U.S. efforts to fast-track this practice h
Share It

Election of Vice-President of India

Article 64 of the Constitution of India specifies that the Vice-President's post cannot remain vacant for any period of time, as it is essential for the functioning of the Rajya Sabha (Council
Share It

Maharashtra Scraps Hindi as Compulsory Third Language

The Maharashtra government recently scrapped its Government Resolutions (GRs) that mandated Hindi as a compulsory third language from Grades 1 to 5 in Marathi and English medium schools. While the
Share It

River Pollution in India

The Delhi government's focus on cleaning up the Yamuna River is part of a larger national effort to rejuvenate the Ganga River and its tributaries, in alignment with the Namami Gange Programme
Share It

Infrastructure Failures

The recent collapse of the Mahisagar River Bridge in Vadodara, which tragically claimed the lives of 20 people, underscores the growing concern over India's infrastructure quality. Similar
Share It

Special Intensive Revision (SIR)

The Supreme Court (SC) is currently reviewing the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) process for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, suggesting that Aadhaar,
Share It

GM Crop

In ongoing trade talks, the United States is advocating for India to open its agriculture market to genetically modified (GM) crops. However, India has firmly rejected this proposal, citing concer
Share It

Newsletter Subscription


ACQ IAS
ACQ IAS