New Delhi: The Union government on Tuesday issued a strongly worded advisory to social media and tech giants such as Mark Zuckerberg Meta, which owns social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and messaging app WhatsApp, Elon Musk-owned microblogging platform X, which was formerly known as Twitter, search engine giant Google, professional networking platform LinkedIn and several others, including Telegram, Sharechat and Indian micro-blogging platform Koo, to strictly comply with the Information Technology rules for intermediaries that were issued in 2022 and were later amended this year. The advisory specifically targets the concerns around Artificial Intelligence generated deep fake content.
Tuesday’s advisory has been issued following the government’s discussion with social media and IT giants, including tech companies such as iPhone maker Apple Inc and hardware manufacturers such as HP and Dell over the last month. The advisory, which has been issued following the discussion between Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar and the industry representatives mandates that IT and social media companies should communicate with users in a very clear and precise manner regarding the prohibited content, particularly the content specified under Rule 3(1)(b) of the IT Rules.
“Misinformation represents a deep threat to the safety and trust of users on the Internet. Deep fake, which is misinformation powered by AI, further amplifies the threat to the safety and trust of our Digital Nagriks,” Rajeev Chandrasekhar said. The advisory stated that the content not permitted under the IT rules, in particular those listed under Rule 3(1)(b) must be communicated to the users in clear and precise language, including through its terms of service and user agreements.
“The same must be expressly informed to the user at the time of first registration and also as regular reminders, in particular, at every instance of login and while uploading/sharing information onto the platform,” said the government. The advisory emphasises that digital intermediaries must ensure that users are informed about penal provisions, including those in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) of 1860 and the IT Act 2000, in case of violation of Rule 3(1)(b) of IT rules.
“The users must be made aware of the various penal provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) 1860, the IT Act, 2000 and such other laws that may be attracted in case of violation of Rule 3(1)(b). In addition, the terms of service and user agreements must highlight that intermediaries/platforms are under obligation to report legal violations to the law enforcement agencies under the relevant Indian laws applicable to the context,” the government said in the advisory.
Rule 3(1)(b) within the due diligence section of the IT rules mandates intermediaries to communicate their rules, regulations, privacy policy, and user agreement in the user’s preferred language. The government said these social media and tech companies, known as intermediaries, are also obliged to ensure reasonable efforts to prevent users from hosting, displaying, uploading, modifying, publishing, transmitting, storing, updating, or sharing any information related to the 11 listed user harms or content prohibited on digital intermediaries.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeITY) said these rules are aimed at ensuring that these social media platforms must identify and promptly remove misinformation, false or misleading content, and material impersonating others, including deep fakes. The government has decided to issue the advisory to social media giants following the news reports of several AI-generated deep fake videos of celebrity personalities emerging on social media. Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also cautioned social media users about the threat posed by deep fake content on social media.
Also read: Instagram most 'wanted to delete' app in 2023; Snapchat, Facebook, X, Telegram figures also alarming
