The Delhi High Court has directed the Central government to conduct a meeting with the providers and deployers of deepfake technology, telecom service providers and victims of deepfakes, along with intermediaries such as Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), before finalising the suggestions on the detection and removal of deepfakes.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela passed the order on Wednesday after the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology apprised the Court that it would soon constitute a dedicated committee to give suggestions on the regulation of deepfake technology.
The High Court asked the committee to give recommendations on the creation, detection and removal of deepfakes. It further directed the committee to consider the regulatory and statutory framework prevalent in other countries, specifically those in the European Union region.
The Division Bench passed the order while hearing two writ petitions, filed by Rajat Sharma, Editor-in-chief of India TV, and Advocate Chaitanya Rohilla. Advocate Darpan Wadhwa represented Rajat Sharma, while Rohilla appeared in person.
The High Court granted the sub-committee on deepfake regulation three months to submit its report and posted the matter for further hearing on March 25, 2025.
In a status report filed before the High Court, the Ministry said that a sub-committee was formed through an office memorandum issued on November 20, comprising one member each from the Emerging Technologies division, the Cyber Security division and the Cyber Law division of MeitY, to specifically deal with the issue of deepfakes.
The committee would further comprise one representative each from the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), which comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs; the Centre For Development of Advance Computing, Hyderabad; and the Data Security Council of India. It would also consist of one professor from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and one legal representative.
Perusing the status report, the High Court noted that it did not contain the names of committee members. Appearing for the Union government, Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma said the process of nominating names would be expedited.
It clarified that a sub-committee was previously formed in March 2023 to give suggestions on regulating Artificial Intelligence technology, which has already submitted its report, however, the newly-formed committee would specifically deal with the issue of deepfakes.
Appearing for Sharma, Advocate Wadhwa contended that social media intermediaries would be the primary stakeholders in regulating deepfakes. The High Court then directed the committee to hear the suggestions of intermediaries such as Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), before filing its report.
The Counsel further submitted that rules on the removal of content based on user requests currently mandated that prohibited content must be removed in 72 hours. He called for a shorter compliance period.
The High Court asked the petitioners what would happen if a user falsely reported material as deepfake. Wadhwa replied that the balance of convenience needed to be in favour of the complainant.
Rohilla’s petition sought directions to the government to identify and block websites providing access to deepfake technology, issue dynamic injunctions, lay down guidelines for AI regulation, ensure fair implementation of AI, and issue guidelines for AI & deepfake access in strict accordance with fundamental rights.
The plea further raised concerns about privacy violations and economic & emotional damage because of deepfakes.