Amid outrage over a surge of deepfake videos on social media, India’s Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology has taken action.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar has told the media that a meeting was held with some of the key digital platforms in India to discuss the rising problem of deepfakes. He said that the Centre would soon appoint an officer to take action against such content.

Furthermore, he clarified that a website will soon be developed on which users can report their concerns IT rule violations. “Meity will assist users to notify it about violation of IT rules and assist them in filing a First Information Report or FIR,” the Union Minister said.

The FIR will be registered against the intermediary or digital platform. If they help in identifying the source of the content, a case will be filed against the entity who posted it.

Furthermore, Chandrasekhar reiterated existing laws and Rules have clear provisions to deal with Deepfake. They should be removed within 36 hours of reporting as it is the “legal obligation” of intermediaries to prevent the spread of misinformation.

Most importantly, underscored that social media platforms have been given a deadline of seven days to align their terms of use as per India’s IT rules. “From today onwards, there is zero tolerance for violation of IT rules,” he added.

Creation and circulation of deepfakes can invite a penalty of ₹ 1 lakh and three years in prison.