'Necessity is the mother of invention', a widely used English proverb is not just an encapsulation of age-old wisdom but also a modern-day adaption of the profound teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher, Plato, who once wrote 'our need will be the real creator'. While this is true, Mark Wahlberg's wise words –'...somethings should never be invented' from the classic, 'Transformers: Age of Extinction' strikes a chord equally. Perhaps somewhere between the proverb and the dialogue is where we stand today, trying to draw a balance between the need to innovate on one hand and to curb the ill effects of evolving technology, on the other. Case in point - the growing use of Artificial Intelligence ("AI") and the dichotomy between digital replicas and deepfakes.
With new policies, directives and initiatives in place, November 2023 has been a critical month which has seen sincere and proactive measures being taken by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology ("MeitY") to curb the menace of deepfakes in India. Additionally, the month has also witnessed changes in the Goods and Services Tax ("GST") regime all of which social media intermediaries and gaming intermediaries have had to imminently deal with respectively.
At the bottom of each of the measures and orders lies an underlying belief or rather a fact that the world is changing, and perhaps too rapidly for us to catch up on. Whether it's a race against humanity or a long run marathon, is a mystery for time to unravel.
With this thought, we bring to you the nineteenth edition of the Recap, outlining some insightful developments in the media and gaming space from November 01, 2023, to November 30, 2023.
Government takes initiatives to combat deepfake content on social media platforms
The MeitY on November 7, 2023, issued an advisory to significant social media and internet intermediaries, urging them to take stringent actions against deepfake content under the Information Technology Act, 2000 ("IT Act") and the IT (Intermediary Guidelines & Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 ("IT Rules").
The advisory urged the intermediaries to exercise due diligence and undertake reasonable efforts to identify any misinformation or deepfakes. Under the IT Rules, intermediaries are required to proactively prevent users from hosting prohibited content and ensure its swift removal within the stipulated timeframe of 36 (thirty-six) hours, upon receipt of a report in this regard. The advisory also sets out that any non-compliance with these requirements will trigger the applicability of Rule 7 of the IT Rules, where the intermediary may end up losing its safe harbor protection under Section 79 of the IT Act.
Following the advisory, the MeitY held a meeting later in November, with the representatives of the internet intermediaries to deliberate upon potential solutions to tackle the concerns around AI and deepfakes, in particular. In the same meeting, MeitY identified four pillars around 'detection', 'prevention', 'reporting' and 'awareness', and urged the intermediaries to identify actionable items in relation to these pillars for further deliberation with MeitY in a follow-up meeting, which is yet to be held.
During this meeting, MeitY also committed to commence immediate work on drafting the necessary regulations to effectively curb deepfakes. Though no Standard Operating Procedures ("SOPs") were established in the said meeting contrary to expectations, some tentative guidelines are expected to be issued for interim regulation till such time that a framework is laid down for this purpose.
The Minister of State for Electronics & IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, also took note of non-compliance with the IT Rules by certain intermediaries and advised them to enhance awareness by issuing repeated reminders to the users against posting of deepfakes and also provided 7 (seven) days to intermediaries to align their terms of use with the requirements under the IT Rules. Reportedly, the government has further expressed its willingness to come up with new regulations having penalties for both creators and platforms hosting such deepfakes with a specific focus on measures such as watermarking generative AI content, detection of deepfakes, regulation of data bias, among others.
Furthermore, MeitY has also decided to take other measures to combat the rising instances of deepfakes, such as assisting victims of deepfakes in filing FIRs for violations under the IT Act and establishing a platform intimating the users of any violations of IT Rules by intermediaries.
The measures adopted by MeitY followed the viral circulation of a deepfake video involving actor, Rashmika Mandanna, drawing concern from bollywood actors. The advisory underscores the Government's push for proactive measures to combat deepfake content proliferation while highlighting legal repercussions and the need for stringent compliance measures.
You can read more about the development as reported by the Press Information Bureau here, here and here.
You can also read more about the developments as reported by National Herald here, the Economic times here, by Livemint here, and the Times of India here.
MIB releases Draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2023
With the objective of modernizing the regulatory framework in the broadcasting sector, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting ("MIB") issued a press release introducing the Draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2023 ("Bill") on November 10, 2023. This Bill seeks to replace the outdated Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995, with a unified and forward-looking approach.
The Bill offers thorough explanations of modern broadcasting terminologies and integrates clauses addressing emerging technologies in the broadcasting domain. In an attempt to boost self-regulation within the sector, the Bill creates 'content evaluation committees' and makes the current inter-departmental committee under the IT Rules into a more inclusive 'broadcast advisory council'. Another key highlight of the Bill is the attempt to facilitate infrastructure sharing among broadcasting network operators and introduces supportive measures for individuals with disabilities.
In addition to monetary penalties, the Bill also introduces statutory penalties including warning, advisory or censure. Most importantly, the Bill builds in equitable penalties by linking financial capacity of entities to ensure fairness and equity. The MIB has also extended an invitation for feedback and comments on the aforementioned Bill from a diverse array of stakeholders, encompassing domain experts, providers of broadcasting services, and the general public by January 15, 2024.
You can access the Draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2023 here.
You can read more on the development and key highlights of the Bill as reported by The Press Information Bureau here.
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