Private Member's Bill to regulate deepfakes tabled in Lok Sabha

To regulate deepfakes and protect citizens from “the spread of false and deceptive content in the digital era”, a Private Member's Bill has been introduced by Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde in the Lok Sabha.

The Regulation of Deepfake Bill, 2024, introduced in the House on Friday (December 5), seeks a clear legal framework for the regulation of deepfakes and also aims to protect citizens by mandating prior consent from individuals depicted in deepfake content.

What Shinde said

Speaking about the Bill, Shinde wrote on his X account, " In view of the rapidly increasing misuse of artificial intelligence and deepfake technology such as creating fabricated videos or audio, using a person’s image without consent, and spreading misleading information this legislation seeks to establish strong safeguards and regulatory mechanisms."

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The Bill also lists penalties for offenders creating or disseminating deepfake content with malicious intent.

It also seeks to establish the Deepfake Task Force, a dedicated body to combat national security implications and evaluate the influence of deepfakes on privacy, civic participation, and potential election interference.

The task force will collaborate with academic and private sector institutions to develop technologies that detect manipulated content, thereby promoting credibility in digital media.

Fund to combat deepfakes

"The Bill classifies the creation or dissemination of deepfake without prior consent or without a digital watermark as a punishable offence. It further proposes the establishment of a National Deepfake Task Force by the Central Government. This task force will study the threats deepfake pose to privacy, national security, and the integrity of the electoral process, and will work on developing advanced technological solutions to counter these risks," Shinde said.

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Additionally, the Bill provides for the creation of a dedicated “Fund for Combating Deepfake” to support organisations engaged in developing deepfake-detection tools and related technologies, he added.

Further, he stated, “To strengthen digital literacy, the Bill also mandates extensive public awareness campaigns to educate citizens about identifying deepfakes, the importance of digital watermarking, and safe digital practices.

“Overall, this legislation has been introduced to curb the spread of false and deceptive content in the digital era and to safeguard the privacy and security of citizens.”

A Private Member's Bill is a procedure of Parliament that enables lawmakers, who are not ministers, to draw attention to issues that might not be represented in Government Bills or to highlight the issues and gaps in the existing legal framework that require legislative intervention.