By Sidhant Kumar Marwah
India is now one of the largest connected nations in the world, with more than 850 million active internet users, expected to rise in the coming years. While the internet has proved to be a space for good use cases and empowerment, the proliferation of AI and its application is a watershed phenomenon that also represents a huge challenge. AI is been used to harm users by facilitating financial frauds, cybercrimes, and sharing of misinformation. The most recent addition to this list is the menace of deepfakes. Political leaders and celebrities have been targeted with convincing but entirely fake videos and photos.
Regulation of technology challenges conventional means of policy-making, given that private players have the real know-how and capacity for enforcement. Each time society is faced with a new issue arising out of technology, the industry, civil society, and relevant stakeholders come together to discuss the need for new prescriptive measures to regulate such issues.
The new IT Rules seek to address the challenge posed by dissemination of undesirable content online. The recent amendments, in fact, recognised the existence of deepfakes and misinformation as content that requires weeding out.
There is a legal obligation apart from a societal duty on social media platforms to curb misinformation. The Rules define prohibited content, impose a due diligence requirement on intermediaries to weed out content, and provide for remedial measures such as takedown orders.
Recognising the threat of deepfake content, the government, under the stewardship of the minister of state for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar, has undertaken a renewed effort to ensure that social media intermediaries strictly comply with the existing law. This is a welcome proactive move by the government to ensure that safeguards are put into place before the menace spreads wider. The government in right earnest seeks to put forth proposals for further reform in this space for broad-based consultation. The government has noted that the challenge posed by deepfake content requires a new approach and is seeking to devise forward-looking solutions.
The ministry of electronics & IT has recognised the need for this approach and proactively seeks to make laws after a transparent consultation process with key stakeholders. The process adopted as a first step is indeed one on the right direction. The government needs to, by legislation, cater to present-day needs, alongside being future-ready to change gears as needed. This process of devising legislation needs to be rooted in the understanding the importance of engagement with key technology players in devising regulatory and technological solutions.
Any regulation concerning deepfakes will need to be nuanced and crafted carefully. It will also require an oversight mechanism so that private platform companies do not become the final arbiter of misinformation. The overarching social objective of protecting society and morays from disruption is paramount. On the flipside, any intervention must protect innovation in AI and their valuable application. Even though demonstrably false speech merits no protection, the regulation of online speech raises a clear concern of overbroad restrictions impinging on legitimate speech. These considerations must also inform the technological means adopted for removing deep fake content.
The recognition of the challenge of deepfakes and the proactive initiative by the government is heartening as India seeks to be ahead of the curve in creating a safe and trusted internet for its citizens. More importantly, developing future-ready legislations that can anticipate the evolution of technology and provide safeguards for new-age challenges is key.
Sidhant Kumar Marwah,Partner, Unum Law. Views are personal.