Deepfakes on the rise, what steps taken to curb it? Delhi High Court asks Centre

The Delhi High Court today asked the Central government if any steps have been taken to tackle the pernicious issue of deepfakes [Rajat Sharma v Union of India].

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela noted that deepfakes (digitally manipulated videos that impersonate people, which may be used to spread false information) are on the rise.

Observing that this issue needs serious consideration, the Court today asked the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma if the government has set up an in-house mechanism or a committee to examine how to tackle this issue.

"If not, then we will set up a committee which will look into it," the Chief Justice added.

The Court observed that the public needs to know what is being done and if the members of any committee set up by the government have the wherewithal to examine the issue.

The ASG submitted that the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) is looking into the matter and that there are people in place. He added that due to sensitivity of this issue, it may not be possible to share all details publicly.

The Chief Justice replied that the particulars of the committee need not be disclosed and that the Court is only seeking information on whether any steps are being taken.

The Court has directed the ASG to file a status report within three weeks.

The Court was dealing with two petitions filed by journalist Rajat Sharma and advocate Chaitanya Rohilla seeking the regulation of deepfakes.

The Court was also urged to issue directions to identify websites giving access to deepfakes and to order their blocking.

In an earlier hearing of the matter, the Court had observed that people today cannot be certain about the authenticity of what they are seeing and hearing through their own eyes and ears because of such tech misuse.

“This is something which is truly shocking. Everything that you are seeing or hearing is fake. It can’t be,” the Bench had remarked.

Senior Advocate Darpan Wadhwa appeared on behalf of journalist Rajat Sharma today. He submitted that statistics show that most deepfakes target women, by circulating fake content in some form of nudity or sexual acts.

Chief Justice Manmohan noted that the challenge lay in determining how to prevent the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology for negative purposes.

“This technology can’t be prohibited. We need AI, it cannot be prohibited. So we have to exclude the negative part and use the positive part. How do we segregate this?” he remarked.

ASG Chetan Sharma observed that an antidote to fake AI needs to be developed that would counter the negative effects of AI.

Meanwhile, Senior Advocate Wadhwa questioned the government's approach of considering websites that disseminate deepfakes as online "intermediaries."

He noted that the government only issues a generic advisory to such websites requiring them to remove deepfake content in 72 hours, which he said was too long a timeframe. He contended that deepfakes must be removed immediately by such websites.

During today's hearing, the Chief Justice also made a reference to the recent spate of hoax bomb threats that airplanes in India received this week and observed countermeasures need to keep up with such tech-enabled threats.

“You have to ramp up the infrastructure," the Chief Justice told the ASG.

The case will be heard next on November 21.