Centre asked social media firms to remove misinformation, deep fakes within 36 hrs

An official statement on Tuesday announced that the government has advised prominent social media companies to swiftly identify and remove misinformation, deepfakes, and rule-violating content within 36 hours of receiving reports.

The development comes after a deepfake video of actress Rashmika Mandanna was found circulating on social media platforms, earning criticism from several politicians and celebrities.

Netizens claimed the video has been morphed and the actual video is of an Indian-origin person living in the UK.

Social Media Firms Advised

“The Centre today issued an advisory to the significant social media intermediaries to ensure that due diligence is exercised and reasonable efforts are made to identify misinformation and deepfakes, and in particular, information that violates the provisions of rules and regulations and/or user agreements,” the Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity) said in a statement.

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Meity in the advisory has directed that social media companies expeditiously take action against content that violates the rules and regulations well within the timeframes stipulated under the IT Rules 2021, and users are caused not to host such information, content, or deepfakes.

“Remove any such content when reported within 36 hours of such reporting and ensure expeditious action, well within the timeframes stipulated under the IT Rules 2021, and disable access to the content or information,” the statement said.

Swift Action Mandated for Impersonation Cases and Consequences for Non-Compliance

In the case of impersonation in an electronic form, including artificially morphed images of an individual, social media companies have been advised to take action within 24 hours from the receipt of a complaint about any content.

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“The intermediaries were reminded that any failure to act as per the relevant provisions of the IT Act and Rules would attract Rule 7 of the IT Rules, 2021 and could render the organisation liable to losing the protection available under Section 79(1) of the Information Technology Act, 2000,” the statement said.

In his statement, Minister of Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar emphasized that deepfakes pose a significant threat, particularly impacting women.