The Delhi High Court today issued notice on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) lodged by senior journalist Rajat Sharma against non-regulation of deepfake technology in the country.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora sought the response of the Centre through the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. The bench verbally remarked that this is a major problem and asked the central government if it is willing to act on the issue. The court added that several political parties are complaining about the issue, yet, the authorities are not taking any action.
The plea has been filed by journalist Rajat Sharma, who is the Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Independent News Service Private Limited (INDIA TV). It stated that the proliferation of deepfake technology poses significant threats to various aspects of society, including misinformation and disinformation campaigns, undermining integrity of public discourse and democratic processes, potential use in fraud and identity theft as well as harm to individuals’ reputations and privacy.
It underlined that all the threats listed above are compounded when a deepfake is made of an influential person such as a politician, sportsman, actor, or any other public figure capable of influencing public opinion. It stated that the aforesaid situation is even more so in the case of a person such as the Petitioner who is visible on television on a daily basis and on whose statements the public has come to place faith in.
The plea noted that there is a pressing need for strict enforcement and proactive action to mitigate the potential harms associated with their misuse. It also contended that the absence of adequate regulation and safeguards against the misuse of deepfake technology poses a grave risk to the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution of India, including the right to freedom of expression, the right to privacy, and the right to a fair trial.
The plea highlighted that the absence of a dedicated mechanism to deal with deepfakes has led to a vacuum, which in turn is violating the personal liberty and privacy of the citizens of this country. It mentioned that even though the Union Government had made a statement of intent to formulate regulation for dealing with deepfakes and synthetic content back in November, 2023, nothing of the sort has seen the light of day thus far.
The PIL sought direction to the Centre to identify and block public access to the applications, software, platforms and websites enabling the creation of deepfakes. It also urged to appoint a dedicated nodal officer for receiving complaints regarding deepfakes and acting upon a complaint within 12 hours and within 06 hours in the case of a complaint received regarding content featuring a public figure.
The plea further seeks a direction on the Centre to issue a directive to all social media intermediaries to take immediate action to take down deepfakes upon the receipt of a complaint from the person concerned.