‘Be Aggressive’: IT Minister Vaishnaw Warns Social Media Platforms To Remove Deepfakes

New Delhi: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised serious concern about deepfakes, Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw warned social media platforms to remove deepfakes if they wanted to enjoy immunity the ‘safe harbour’ clause in the Information & Technology Act.

According to the existing clause, an online platform can’t be held accountable for content posted by users.

Following multiple incidents of filmstars being targets of deepfake videos, the Central government has already issued notices to social media platforms directing them to take steps to identify deepfakes and remove the content.

Vaishnaw said the platforms have responded and are taking action.

“But we have told them to be more aggressive on this matter,” the minister added.

The PM said on Friday that deepfakes are one of the biggest threats the Indian system is facing at the moment and have the potential to cause chaos in society.

In recent weeks, Bollywood actresses like Kajol, Katrina Kaif and Rashmika Mandanna have faced the deepfake menace, which allows users to modify an image or video using machine learning and artificial intelligence.