The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) expressed concerns in a letter to the IT Ministry regarding its recent advisory to platforms to comply with India's IT Rules 2021, explicitly addressing deepfakes-related misinformation.

The IT Ministry has advised platforms to intensify monitoring of social media content under Rule 3(1)(b) of India's IT Rules, 2021, targeting misinformation and deepfakes. Platforms are urged to inform users about these terms and the legal repercussions for non-compliance.

The IFF points out potential arbitrary content censorship, lack of clarity on upcoming deepfake regulations, and inadequacies in the government's approach. The letter calls for extensive public consultation and warns against relying solely on automated mechanisms for content monitoring.

Why does it matter?

This follows the recent statement by Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, where he noted the inconsistent adherence to the advisory on deepfakes among social media and online platforms, further announcing that amendments to the IT rules are expected to be introduced within the next week. The Minister had earlier emphasized that failure to fully comply with the advisory would lead to implementing new IT rules.