India Prepares Rules On Deepfakes After Concerns From PM Modi

Indian Information Technology Minister, Arwini Vaishnaw (photo: x @AshewiniVaishnaw)

India is drafting rules to regulate deepfakes, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi voiced concern about the technology, Wednesday, November 22.

"We plan to complete the drafting of regulations in the next few weeks," Indian Information Technology Minister Awwini Vaishnaw told reporters after a meeting with academics, industry groups, and social media companies, Thursday, November 23.

Deepfakes is a realistic but fabricated video created by artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms trained on online footage.

In his opening address at the virtual summit of G20 countries on Wednesday, Modi asked world leaders to work together towards artificial intelligence (AI) regulations and voice concerns about the negative impact of deepfakes on society.

"The process of drafting regulations will also consider sanctions both on people who upload their content and the social media platform where the content is posted," Vaishnaw added.

The move comes as countries around the world race to make rules to regulate artificial intelligence.

US President Joe Biden last month signed an executive order demanding developers of artificial intelligence systems that pose a risk to US national security, economy, or public health and safety to share security test results with the US government before they were released to the public.

The United Nations has also established an advisory body of 39 countries to deal with issues in artificial intelligence governance. Meanwhile, European legislators have prepared a draft of rules that can be approved next month.