New Delhi, Nov 23 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has ordered the Center to appoint members of a committee constituted to look into the issue of deepfakes.

The High Court’s decision came after it was informed by the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) that a committee had been formed on November 20 on deepfake issues.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela ordered the central government to appoint the members within a week.

“The commission will examine and take into consideration the suggestions submitted by the applicants. The committee will also examine the regulations as well as statutory framework of foreign countries like the European Union,” the bench said in an order passed on November 21.

The court further directed the committee to seek experiences and suggestions from a few stakeholders such as intermediary platforms, telecom service providers, victims of deepfakes and websites that provide and deploy deepfakes before submitting its report .

“The committee shall submit its report as soon as possible, preferably within three months,” the bench said and listed the matter for hearing on March 24.

The court was hearing two petitions against the non-regulation of deepfake technology in the country and the threat of its potential misuse.

Deepfake technology facilitates the creation of realistic videos, audio recordings and images that can manipulate and mislead viewers by superimposing the image of one person on top of another, altering their words and actions, thereby presenting a false narrative or spreading misinformation.

During the hearing, the applicants’ lawyer said the delay in creating, detecting and removing deepfakes was causing “tremendous hardship” to the general public.

They prayed that their suggestions on deepfakes would be considered by the committee.

The court had earlier ordered the Center to file a status report on the steps taken by it to counter the menace of deepfake technology which is increasing every day.

Deepfake technology was going to pose a serious threat to society and the government should start thinking about it, he said, adding that the antidote to artificial intelligence would be technology alone.

In response, MeitY told the court that it does not have the authority to monitor any online content on the Internet suo motu.

One of the appeals, filed by journalist Rajat Sharma, aims to regulate deepfake technology in the country and block public access to applications and software enabling the creation of such content.

The other petition was filed by Chaitanya Rohilla, a lawyer, against deepfakes and unregulated use of artificial intelligence.

Rajat Sharma, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Independent News Service Private Limited (INDIA TV), in a public interest litigation, said the proliferation of deepfake technology poses a significant threat to various aspects of society, including disinformation and disinformation campaigns, and undermines the integrity of public discourse and the democratic process.

The PIL said that there is a threat of potential use of this technology for fraud, identity theft and blackmail, harm to individual reputation, privacy and security, erosion of trust in the media and public institutions and violation of intellectual property rights and the right to privacy.

It is imperative that the government establishes regulatory frameworks to define and classify deepfakes and AI-generated content and prohibit the creation, distribution and dissemination of deepfakes for malicious purposes, the plea asserts. PTI SKV VN VN

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