Court cannot control internet in borderless world: Delhi High Court on plea against Deepfakes

The Delhi High Court on Monday expressed reservations over whether it could issue any directions to rein in the use of "deepfake" content generated through Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology. .A bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Mini Pushkarna was considering a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by a lawyer, advocate Chaitanya Rohilla to block access to websites that generate deepfakes.The petitioner also urged the Court to lay down guidelines on the permissible use of deepfakes and AI. .The Court, however, pointed out that the issue was very complicated and that the government would be better suited to address the matter and arrive at a balanced solution. "This technology is now available in the borderless world. How do you control the net? Can't police it that much. After all, the freedom of net will be lost. So there are very important, balancing factors involved in this. You have to arrive at a solution which balances all the interests. It is only the government with all its resources that can do it. They have the data, they have the wide machinery, they have to make a decision about it. It is a very, very complicated issue. Not a simple issue," Acting Chief Justice Manmohan observed..The Court also noted that deepfakes and AI also has beneficial uses in certain domains."When they make films, especially war movies, deepfakes are very important. With one person, they show 1000 replicas of that person," the Court remarked..Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Manohar Lal submitted that the Court could at least issue some guidelines so that private parties who misuse deepfake or AI technology are held accountable. He suggested that websites could be asked to disclose when their content is generated by AI. Such websites could also be prevented from generating illegal content, he said. .He argued that the it took a long seven years for the Central government to come out with a law on data privacy (the Digital Data Protection Act), and that the issue of AI misuse cannot be left unregulated for so long. "By the time they come up with a solution, many more problems may arise," the counsel contended. "By nature, law lags behind, you can't help it. And you don't know where technology is heading," the Court pointed out.The petitioner's counsel replied that people misusing AI should still be held accountable till regulation is framed. He added that India has been far ahead when compared to the European Union or America when it comes to certain areas of tech regulation, including the ban on TikTok. India should lead the way in regulating deepfakes as well, he submitted. .Appearing for the Central government, standing counsel Apoorv Kumar assured the Court that the government is also seriously deliberating the issue. "It is already in the public domain that the Ministry has said that it is a serious issue and needs to be addressed. Let me come back with instructions," the government lawyer requested. .The Court accepted the request and listed the matter for further hearing on January 8.