India Asks Facebook and YouTube to Remind Users About Prohibition of Deepfakes and Hoax Content

Deputy Minister of IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar (photo: x @Rajeev_GoI)

JAKARTA - The Indian government on Friday November 24 warned social media companies, including Facebook and YouTube, to repeatedly remind users that local laws prohibit them from uploading deepfakes and content that spreads obscenity or disinformation.

This warning was conveyed by Deputy IT Minister  Rajeev Chandrasekhar in a closed-door meeting where he said many companies had not updated their terms of use despite the 2022 rules banning content "harmful" for children, obscene or "impersonating another person".

Chandrasekhar said companies should raise awareness about the rules by reminding users every time they log in that they cannot upload such content or by providing reminders.

If not, he will direct them to do so, said two sources who did not want to be identified because the meeting was private.

The minister explained that these were "non-negotiable" demands of the Indian government during the meeting.

India's IT Ministry said in a press statement that all platforms have agreed to align their content guidelines with government rules.

Facebook and Chandrasekhar did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Google parent Alphabet Inc, which owns YouTube, said in a statement that it was committed to the responsible development of AI and had strong policies and systems in place to identify and remove harmful content across its products and platforms.

The Indian government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have recently voiced their concerns about deepfakes.

During a virtual summit of G20 countries on Wednesday, November 22, Prime Minister Modi called on global leaders to work together on regulating AI and raised concerns over the negative impact of deepfakes on society.

Countries around the world are racing to create rules to regulate AI. India has tightened regulations on social media companies, making the South Asian country a major growth market.

Last year, the government privately criticized the companies for not removing what it described as fake news on their sites, which it said had forced them to order content removal.