India Ready to Tackle Rising Online Threats and Cyber Crimes: Govt Tells Parliament

India's cyber legal framework, which is backed by the IT Act, BNS as well as other institutions including GAC, CERT-In, and I4C, is well-equipped to tackle evolving online harms and cyber crimes, said Union Minister of State (MoS) for Electronics and Information Technology Jitin Prasada in Rajya Sabha.

What Did The Minister of State Say?

According to the MoS Prasada, the government is conscious of the threats which are posed by deepfakes powered by artificial intelligence (AI), including synthetic audio, video and text.

This kind of content can seriously impact an individual's dignity, reputation, and right to privacy. It also raises concerns about platform accountability, he added, according to the Ministry of Electronics & IT.

In order to combat the rising threat of deepfakes and ensure an open, safe and accountable cyberspace, the Government of India has established a comprehensive legal and institutional framework.

Which Laws Currently Protect Netizens?

Many existing laws address various aspects of AI-generated harms, which include the Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act), which criminalises identity theft, impersonation, privacy violations, and the circulation of obscene content. It further empowers authorities to issue blocking orders (Section 69A) and takedown notices (Section 79) to intermediaries.

Supporting this are the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, updated in 2022 and 2023, which mandate digital platforms to exercise due diligence, prevent the hosting of unlawful content, and ensure accountability.

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) adds another layer by requiring data fiduciaries, including AI firms, to process personal data lawfully and with user consent.

Additionally, deepfakes which use personal data without consent can also be penalised under this Act.

Further, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) addresses misinformation and organised cybercrimes through Sections 353 and 111.

The government has also issued several advisories in December 2023 and March 2024, directing intermediaries to remove deepfakes and content which impersonates someone else, inform users about misleading content, and ensure timely compliance with the Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) orders.

Certain intermediaries have also been advised to label AI-generated content when outputs are potentially unreliable.

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