On November 23, 2023, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Electronics & Information Technology (IT) and Communications, chaired a session to address concerns around deepfake technology. “We need to take very urgent steps to strengthen trust in the society to protect our democracy,” Vaishnaw stated on the ‘deepfake’ issue.
According to Vaishnaw, the Indian government has held talks with social media companies, artificial intelligence (AI)-based platforms and professors, and NASSCOM. Reportedly, Vaishnaw mentioned that in the upcoming 10 days, the government will draw up actionable items for deepfakes based on four pillars, which are detection of deepfakes and ,misinformation, how to prevent spreading of misinformation, strengthening reporting mechanisms for applications, and raising awareness.
It’s believed that Vaishnaw acknowledged the point of deepfakes not being “free speech”. “We will start drafting the regulations today itself. Within a short time frame, we will have a new set of regulations for deepfakes,” Vaishnaw highlighted on the matter.