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‘Wait till Nov 24’: Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Centre's actions against deepfakes
The Electronics and Information Technology Ministry (MeitY) has summoned officials from major social media companies for a meeting on deepfakes on November 23.
Union minister of state Electronics and Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Tuesday said that the government is likely to take some "major steps" on the issue of deepfakes, ANI reported.
Deepfake videos are synthetic media created using AI, which generates convincing-looking fake images, videos or audio not usually discernible to someone not trained in spotting them.
"You will have to wait till November 24 to see what we do. We will talk to the industry and we will come up with an overall framework that strengthens our existing framework that is already present," Chandrasekhar was quoted as saying by ANI.
Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed concerns over the misuse of technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to create deepfakes and said the media can play a role in raising awareness since a large section of society does not have the wherewithal to ascertain the veracity of content.
Modi also stressed on the need to carry some precautionary notes about the pitfalls and dangers of AI and deepfakes.
Amid the concern, the Electronics and Information Technology Ministry (MeitY) has summoned officials from major social media companies for a meeting on “Nuisances of deepfake content on Social Media Platforms” on November 23.
The summon to social media companies was sent two days after IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the ministry would call them to brainstorm about deepfakes.
On Tuesday, Chandrasekhar said that the government would engage with the industry to make sure that they do not allow deepfakes to create chaos, harm or toxicity on the internet for Indians.
“We continue to engage with all the platforms. I have always said that the platforms and the government are partners in ensuring that the internet in India is open, safe, trusted and accountable for our digital citizens. We will continue to engage with them,” the minister said, according to ANI.
