India Warn Parties to Shun Deepfakes in Elections

The Election Commission of India has advised all political parties to avoid deepfakes and other misinformation on social media during the general elections

The action comes after the constitutional authority was criticised for failing to do enough to combat such initiatives in the world’s most populous country. 

The advice, issued on Monday (PDF), mandates political parties to remove any deepfake audio or video within three hours of becoming aware of its presence. Parties are also recommended to identify and warn those who created the manipulated content.

The Election Commission’s action followed a Delhi High Court judgment directing the agency to resolve the problem, presented in a petition. 

India, home to nearly 1.5 billion people, began its general elections on April 19, with the voting process scheduled to end on June 1. Questions over the deployment of deepfakes and misinformation have already tainted the election. 

Late last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi complained about using false voices to depict leaders uttering statements they had “never even thought of,” claiming that this was part of a scheme to cause societal strife. 

Indian police have arrested at least six members of the Indian National Congress’s social media teams for disseminating a bogus video depicting Home Minister Amit Shah saying words he claims he never made. 

India has been battling with the use and proliferation of deepfakes for several months. In November, India’s IT Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, met with critical social media giants, including Meta and Google, and “reached a consensus” that regulation was required to battle better the spread of deepfake videos and apps that allow their fabrication. 

Another IT Minister warned digital companies in January that if they did not actively combat deepfake videos, they would face severe penalties, including banning them. The country has yet to codify its draft legislation on deepfakes into law. 

The Election Commission stated on Monday that it has frequently directed political parties and their leaders to “maintain decorum and utmost restraint in public campaigning.”