Government to introduce Digital India bill to check deepfake content: Sources
The newly elected Narendra Modi government intends to file a bill in the coming Parliament session to investigate the dangers of AI-generated deepfake videos and other internet content, sources told India Today TV on Saturday.
The legislation, known as the Digital India law, would also look at improved ways to employ Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, according to sources, who added that the government will strive to reach a cross-party consensus on the law before introducing it in Parliament.
Also read: Vehicle with 23 passengers on board falls into gorge in Uttarakhand; 8 feared dead
There will also be legislation in the upcoming Parliament session to regulate the videos on various online mediums, including YouTube.
The forthcoming Parliament session, the first of the 18th Lok Sabha, will begin on June 24 and end on July 3. Later, the Monsoon Session will begin on July 22 and likely last until August 9.
Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar had hinted about the bill last year
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the then Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, hinted about the law earlier this year, stating that it would be brought up for enactment and execution by the next administration.
Also read: India’s First Indigenous Loitering Munition, Nagastra-1, Delivered to Indian Army
“Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll be able to catch the legislative window before the elections, because we need certainly a lot of consultation and debate and discussion around it. But we certainly have a roadmap of what is legislation, what is our policy goals and what are the policy principles for safety and trust,” Chandrasekhar had said at the Financial Express’s DigiFraud & Safety Summit 2023.
Deepfake is a technology that has prompted concerns about its potential for creating deceptive or misleading content, such as spreading false information, fabricating films of public persons, and invading personal privacy.
