Delhi High Court Urges Centre to Address Deepfake Menace

Start working against deepfakes, Delhi HC tells Centre

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday (August 28, 2024) observed that deepfakes are going to be a serious menace in society and that the Centre should "start working on this". "You [Centre] also start thinking about this. It [deepfake] is going to be a serious menace in the society," said Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela while hearing two petitions against non-regulation on deepfake technology in the country. Deepfakes photos and videos involve the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to replace the likeness of a person in an existing photo or video with someone else's likeness. In recent times, deepfake technology has raised concerns as it can be used to create highly realistic fake videos that may be misused, such as spreading misinformation, creating fake news, or generating false narratives. "You also do some study. It is like what you are seeing and what you are hearing, you can't believe it. That is something which shocks. What I see through my own eyes and what I have heard through my own ears, I don't have to trust that, this is very very shocking," the court said. One plea has been filed by journalist Rajat Sharma against non-regulation of deepfake technology and has sought directions to block public access to applications and software enabling creation of such content. The other petition has been filed by Chaitanya Rohilla, a lawyer, against deepfakes and the unregulated use of artificial intelligence. Additional affidavit The court granted two weeks' time to the petitioners to file an additional affidavit containing their suggestions and listed the matter for further hearing on October 24. Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, appearing for the Centre, said the authorities recognise that it is a problem which needs to be dealt with. "We can employ counter AI technology to annul what would otherwise be a very damaging situation. To deal with the issues, four things needed -- detection, prevention, grievance support mechanism and raising awareness," Mr. Sharma said. To this, the Bench responded that the antidote for AI would be technology only. Read Comments

Deepfake tech going to be a serious menace in society: HC | Delhi News - Times of India

New Delhi: Deepfake technology is going to be a serious menace in society and Centre should start thinking about it, Delhi High Court said on Wednesday. The antidote for artificial intelligence can only be technology, it noted. "What we see through our own eyes and what we have heard through our ears, we can't trust that. This is very, very shocking.You (central govt) will have to start working on this. You also start thinking about this," remarked a bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela while hearing two petitions against the non-regulation of deepfake technology in the country and the threat of its potential misuse. The Centre's counsel submitted that authorities recognise that it is a problem which needs to be dealt with. Meanwhile, the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) in its reply told the high court that it was not empowered to monitor any online content on the internet on a suo motu basis. "Any content/URL/websites on the internet can only be blocked as per the established legal procedure," it said. The ministry of electronics and information technologyfurther said that it had taken various steps to address proliferation of harmful applications (AI-enabled and deepfake) and illegal content. In order to ensure an open, safe, trusted and accountable digital ecosystem, Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act 2023 had been notified, it added. The high court then granted two weeks' time to the petitioners to file an additional affidavit containing their suggestions and listed the matter for further hearing on Oct 24. While one petition has been filed by journalist Rajat Sharma against the non-regulation of deepfake technology in the country, the other petition has been filed by Chaitanya Rohilla, a lawyer, against deepfakes and the unregulated use of AI.

Delhi HC urges Centre to frame law to regulate AI, deepfake

New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Wednesday urged the Union ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTY) to consider enacting a law for regulating the proliferation of harmful manifestations of artificial intelligence like deepfake on the internet, saying that such tools are going to be a "menace in society". A bench of acting chief justice Manmohan and justice Tushar Rao Gedela told additional solicitor general (ASG) Chetan Sharma, representing the government, that deepfake is not only in India, but this is a challenge all over the world. "Everything that you are seeing or hearing is fake. It can't be." The court said that just ahead of the assembly elections, a large number of political parties were approaching them against deepfake. Giving reference that some states in the US have come up with legislation, the bench said, "Now it is time for the Parliament to pass some act. You are the government. We as an institution have some limitations. You'll have to do something. You'll have to start thinking about it; it's going to be a serious menace in society." The court stressed the pressing need to control the spread of this technology while considering a plea filed by Chaitanya Rohilla seeking the formulation of guidelines to regulate AI and deep fake technologies. The plea had also sought identification and blocking of websites providing access to deep fake AI. "In India, existing laws are deemed inadequate for addressing deep fake manifestations, and concerns persist about the Digital Data Protection Act, 2023. It emphasizes the vacuum in legislation and the need for the court's intervention to protect fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution," read the plea. In December 2023, the Centre's counsel had submitted that the issue was being addressed by the government. In February, the Centre filed a detailed affidavit mentioning the existing legal and regulatory mechanisms in the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the Data Protection Act, 2018 to deal with the issue. Besides referring to various provisions of the two laws, Centre's 23-page reply also specified various advisories issued by it to intermediaries/platforms to ensure compliance with the legal provisions regarding the misuse of AI and deep fake. During the hearing on Wednesday, advocate Manohar Lal argued that though the plea was filed last year, the menace was not that much as it is today. Agreeing with the proliferation of deep fake being a malaise, ASG Sharma said that the antidote to fake AI can only be a counter-technology. Considering the contentions, the court asked Rohilla's counsel to file an additional affidavit containing their suggestions on how to tackle misuse of deepfake technology within two weeks and fixed October 8 as the next date of hearing.