What Are Laws Around Deepfakes And Are They Stringent Enough?

Calls for stricter laws around deepfakes are amplifying on social media, as Kajol becomes the third celebrity to fall prey to the deepfake scandal after Rashmika Mandhana and Katrina Kaif. 

The first deepfake that went viral earlier this month was of actress Rashmika Mandanna. The forged video had her face superimposed over the body of British-Indian influencer Zara Patel. Kaif was the next victim with edited photos from her movie Tiger 3’s shoot being circulated online. The original picture showed her in a towel while the morphed one had her wearing a low-cut bralette and underwear. And now Kajol’s deepfake is doing rounds. Her face has been added to British influencer Rosie Breen’s as she changes clothes on camera as part of the ‘Get Ready With Me’ trend.

IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has called upon the social media platforms amid serious concerns over ‘deepfake’ videos circulating online, according to Press Trust of India (PTI). Vaishnaw said while the companies have responded, they are needed to be ‘more aggressive’ in monitoring such content.

What are Deepfake videos?

Deepfake videos are a concerning consequence of the latest technological development. These hoax videos, extensively edited through AI, are so convincing that detecting them is becoming increasingly difficult. 

Over time, a variety of deepfakes have surfaced intermittently where faces have been swapped and speeches altered. But with the advent of artificial intelligence, it is feared that troublemakers will now be able to create videos out of nothing. The creator will have the capability to make the person in the video say and do virtually anything.

Deepfakes are most commonly created and circulated for malicious purposes of disinformation campaigns, revenge pornography, cyber warfare, and character defamation.

What are the laws around deepfakes?

There are no explicit laws in India targeting deepfakes but laws around privacy, cyber crime and defamation can be applied in this case.

Section 66C, Information Technology Act

This section deals with identity theft and states that any person who “fraudulently” or “dishonestly” makes use of the electronic signature, password or any other unique identification feature of any other person shall be punished. The miscreant can be imprisoned for up to three years and also be liable for a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh.

Section 66D, Information Technology Act

This section states that whoever “cheats by personation” will be liable for imprisonment of up to three years and a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh.

Section 66E, 67, 67A and 67B, Information Technology Act

These sections cover cyber crimes related to pornography. They address privacy violations, punishment for sharing explicit content in electronic form, and punishment for transmitting material with sexually explicit acts electronically. Section 67B specifically focuses on offences involving children

Section 499, Indian Penal Code - defamation

The section states that if someone intentionally says or writes something to harm another person's reputation, that's considered defamation. This includes spoken words, written words, signs, or visible representations that could harm someone's image. 

Section 500, Indian Penal Code - defamation punishment

If someone is found guilty of violating section 499, then they are liable for punishment under section 500. The punishment may include imprisonment for a term that can extend to two years, a fine, or both.

While these existing laws can be invoked in cases involving deepfakes, the absence of a dedicated and clearly defined law for deepfakes often creates potential loopholes in legal frameworks

The role of social media platforms

When Rashmika Mandanna’s deepfake video went viral on social media, the government issued an advisory asking major social media platforms to identify misinformation, deepfakes and other content that violate rules and remove those within 36 hours, as per the IT Rules 2021.

Union IT Minister Ashvini Vaishnaw said the platforms responded and were working to remove the forged content but better monitoring was needed at their end.

“They are taking steps...but we think that many more steps will have to be taken. And we are very soon going to have a meeting of all the platforms...Maybe in the next 3-4 days, we'll call them for brainstorming on that and make sure that platforms make adequate efforts for preventing it (deepfakes), and cleaning up their system,” he told PTI on Saturday.

What is the safe harbour immunity clause

The safe harbour immunity clause protects intermediaries such as the leading social media platforms from being held accountable when third party members use their platform to post objectionable content, in this case, deepfake videos.

Vaishnaw said on Saturday, that the clause will not apply if the social media platforms are not proactive in taking “adequate steps” against such content.

Platforms on the internet, including social media giants such as Google, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and others fall under this ambit.

Stricter laws needed

Lucknow MLA Rajeshwar Singh took to X on Sunday to express his concern for the rising Deepfake menace and urged the UP CM Yogi Adityanath and Minister of Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal to update the laws around Deepfakes.

“It is submitted that the existing legal regime is insufficient to protect citizens from the adverse manipulation of this technology and there is an urgent need for strengthening the existing legal framework to meet these challenges,” he said in his letter to Meghwal.

Singh said the threat from easy access to dozens of applications used for the generation of deepfakes was ever-growing. “There are currently dozens of applications in the market that users can download for nefarious purposes such as scams and hoaxes, celebrity pornography, election manipulation, social engineering, automated disinformation attacks, identity thefts and financial fraud amongst others,” said Singh.

The MLA put forth suggestions for an increase in jail time to seven years and an increase of fine to Rs 2 lakh under the relevant sections of the Information Technology Act. “is no specific legal provision that recognises the individual rights against such menace caused by deepfakes and related technological advancements”.

“We have to collaboratively come up with innovative methods on a war footing or risk the situation spiralling out of control,” said Singh.