National: In a significant development related to the matter of deepfakes, the Delhi High Court on Thursday asked the Centre to file a status report on the measures taken by it to counter the increasing menace of the deepfake technology. During the hearing on the matter, Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela sought the report to highlight measures taken at the government level. 

During the hearing of the two pleas against the non-regulation of deepfake technology, the Delhi HC called it a "very serious issue" that needed to be dealt with by the authorities on a "priority" basis.

The Delhi HC observed that artificial intelligence could not be prohibited as people needed it. "We have to remove the negative part of the technology and keep the positive part," it added.

Representing the Centre, the additional solicitor general stated the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology was looking into the issue of deepfakes.

And the counsel appearing for one of the petitioners said that many countries enacted legislation on the issue, and India was far behind. He added that most deepfakes were related to women, including nudity, and the authorities were unable to resolve the issue.

Rajat Sharma filed the plea against non-regulation of deepfakes

Rajat Sharma, the Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of India TV, filed one of the pleas and requested instructions to block public access to applications and software that enable the creation of such content.

In the plea, he said that deepfake technology posed a significant threat to various aspects of society, including disinformation campaigns, and undermined the integrity of public discourse and the democratic process.

Rajat Sharma's plea stated that the Centre made a statement of its intent to formulate regulations for dealing with deepfakes and synthetic content in November 2023, but it was yet to see the light of the day.

His plea sought direction to the Centre to identify and block public access to the applications, software, platforms, and websites enabling the creation of deepfakes.

He, through the plea, sought the government to issue a directive to all social media intermediaries to initiate immediate removal of deepfakes on a complaint.

The other petition has been filed by advocate Chaitanya Rohilla against deepfakes and the unregulated use of artificial intelligence.

The ministry said in its reply that it had taken various steps to address the proliferation of harmful applications and illegal content. To ensure an open, safe, trusted, and accountable digital ecosystem, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 has been notified, it said.