India’s Election Commission has issued an advisory to all political parties, urging them to refrain from using deepfakes and other types of misinformation of their social media posts through the country’s ongoing general elections. The move comes after the constitutional body faced criticism for not doing enough to combat such campaigns on the planet’s most populous nation.
The advisory, released on Monday (PDF), requires political parties to remove any deepfake audio or video inside three hours of becoming aware of its existence. Parties are also advised to discover and warn the individuals accountable for creating the manipulated content. The Election Commission’s motion follows a Delhi High Court order asking the body to resolve the matter after the problem was raised in a petition.
India, home to over 1.5 billion people, began its general elections on April 19, with the voting process set to conclude on June 1. The election has already been marred by controversies surrounding using deepfakes and misinformation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi complained late last month concerning the use of faux voices to purportedly show leaders making statements that they had “never even considered,” alleging that this was a part of a conspiracy designed to sow tension in society.
The Indian police have arrested a minimum of six people from the social media teams of the Indian National Congress, the nation’s top opposition party, for circulating a fake video showing Home Minister Amit Shah making statements he claims he never made.
India has been grappling concerning the use and spread of deepfakes for several months now. Ashwini Vaishnaw, India’s IT Minister, met large social media corporations, including Meta and Google, in November, and “reached a consensus” that regulation was needed to raised combat the spread of deepfake videos in addition to apps that facilitate their creation.
One other IT Minister in January warned tech corporations of severe penalties, including bans, in the event that they did not take lively measures against deepfake videos. The nation is yet to codify its draft regulation on deepfakes into law.
The Election Commission said on Monday it has been “repeatedly directing” the political parties and their leaders to “maintain decorum and utmost restraint in public campaigning.”
