The Threat of Deepfakes

Context: Deepfakes have become a new challenge for the cyberworld, especially due to the inadequacy of laws and evolving technologies.

Defining Deepfakes: They are synthetic media, meaning media (including images, audio and video), manipulated or wholly generated by Artificial Intelligence.

Associated Concerns:

• Threats of misinformation and disinformation:
  • Threatened the electoral outcome of the world’s oldest democracy (Capitol hill protest in the USA).
  • Used to tarnish reputations, create mistrust, question facts, and spread propaganda.
  • Vehicles for misinformation and propaganda: misuse of social networks were voluntarily accepted by the Social media companies.
• Inadequacy of legislative provisions: The Indian Penal Code, The Information Technology Act, 2000 and Information Technology Intermediary Guidelines (Amendment) Rules, 2018.
  • The guidelines stipulate that the intermediate companies must observe due diligence for the removal of illegal content.

Way forward:

• Contextualization of deepfakes: within the broader framework of malicious manipulated media, computational propaganda and disinformation campaigns.
• Ensure a collaborative, multi-stakeholder response that requires experts in every sector. E.g.
  • Journalists need tools to scrutinize images, video and audio recordings for which they need training and resources;
  • Sensitizing policymakers: About how deepfakes can threaten polity, society, economy, culture, individuals and communities.
• Use of AI-backed technological tools: can be effective in detecting and preventing evolving deep fake technology, e.g. use of Blockchain to ensure transparency and check against security threats.