Deepfake Video / Government becomes strict on deepfakes, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnav gave this warning to social media companies

Deepfake Video: Modi government has taken a strict stance on the deepfake issue. Union Information Technology (IT) Minister Ashwini Vaishnav on Saturday said the government will soon discuss the deepfake issue with social media platforms and if the platforms do not take adequate steps in this regard, they will be booked under the 'safe harbor' immunity section of the IT Act. Will not get protection. Digitally altering a person's face or body in a video is called deepfake. These videos made with machine learning and artificial intelligence can easily deceive anyone.

Big companies like Meta and Google will be called

Vaishnav told reporters that the government had recently issued a notice to companies on the deepfake issue and the platforms also responded. But companies will have to be more aggressive in taking action against such content, he said. Vaishnav told reporters, “They are taking steps, but we feel many more steps have to be taken and we are going to have a meeting of all the forums very soon probably in the next 3-4 days. We will call them to brainstorm on this and ensure that the platforms do enough to stop it (deepfakes) and clean up their systems.” When asked whether big platforms like Meta and Google would be called for the meeting, the minister replied in the affirmative.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had warned

Vaishnav also clarified that the 'safe harbor immunity' that platforms currently enjoy under the IT Act will not apply unless they take adequate action. Earlier on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had warned that deepfakes created by artificial intelligence (AI) could cause a major crisis and create discontent in the society. He urged the media to raise awareness and educate people about its misuse. Recently, several deepfake videos targeting prominent actors went viral, sparking outrage.