We missed this earlier: “I sincerely want to say that fake news is a threat to our democracy today. [And] we need to take strict action against fake news, as well as AI-generated deepfakes,” Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw remarked on December 3 during the ongoing Winter Session of the Parliament.
“Recently, new rules have been made to take down [online content] within 36 hours, [as well as] draft rules to identify and take action against AI-generated deepfakes have been published, [and] the consultation is currently going on,” he added while speaking in the Lok Sabha (House of the People).
Vaishnaw also revealed that the “Parliamentary Committee has submitted a detailed report” and “given a lot of good proposals regarding how laws should be created [to combat AI-generated deepfakes].”
For context, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) amended the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules (2021) in October of this year to tighten the requirements for online intermediaries to act on unlawful content.
According to the new rule, intermediaries must act “within 36 hours of the receipt of such actual knowledge”, which will arise only in two ways:
- by an order of a court of competent jurisdiction
- or through a reasoned intimation that an authorised government officer issues in writing
Furthermore, another draft amendment to these very IT Rules brings AI-generated deepfakes under governmental regulation by way of adding the definition of ‘synthetically generated information’
‘Delicate Balance Between Speaking Freely And Protecting Democracy’
Importantly, while speaking about social media platforms and fake news, Vaishnaw stressed on achieving a delicate balance between people’s right to speak freely and the robust functioning of a democracy.
“When it comes to fake news and social media [platforms], there is a fine, delicate balance between freedom of speech and protecting our democracy. And the [Central] government is functioning with this fine balance in mind,” the 55-year-old said in the Lok Sabha.
Elsewhere, Vaishnaw spoke about ‘ecosystems’ that do not want to follow India’s Constitution and how their activities should be tackled.
“A lot of ecosystems utilise social media platforms and don’t want to follow India’s Constitution. There is an urgent need to take strict action and formulate tough rules in this regard,” he remarked.
Who All Are Responsible for Curbing Fake News?
Elsewhere, Congress MP B. Manickam Tagore asked Vaishnaw about the action the Centre has taken against news channels as well as influential social media accounts for spreading fake news that targets Opposition leaders.
To this, Vaishnaw spoke about what the Centre as well as the Press Council of India (PCI) has done about complaints regarding TV channels and newspapers, thus unwittingly leaving out the bit about social media accounts.
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Importantly, he remarked that combating fake news and narratives is the collective responsibility of the Centre, state governments, and civil society representatives
“We must always be aware that anything which is sold in the name of freedom of speech but is [actually] a fake news [item] or fake narrative must be actively countered, and this is the responsibility of the Central Govt as well as the state govts, and the civil society also,” the 55-year-old remarked in Parliament.
“As far as the Central Govt and its institutions are concerned, we will continue to take any action that is required for curbing fake news,” he added.
On Online Money Gaming And Its Regulation In India
While responding to independent lawmaker Rajesh Ranjan’s question about online betting and its ill effects on the country’s youth, Vaishnaw highlighted the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act (PROGA) 2025 that the Central Government enacted recently.
“Promotional content for online money gaming was spreading like cancer, and due to this the society had developed a deformity. In this regard, PM Narendra Modi’s government has created a stringent law (PROGA), and we won’t step back from undertaking other such tough measures,” the Union MeitY Minister told the Lower House of Parliament.
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