Delhi High Court directs formation of committee to address deepfake concerns, sets three months deadline for report [Read Order]

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has directed swift action on the regulation of deepfake technology while hearing petitions challenging the current framework for handling synthetic media.

Delhi HC Mandates Urgent Action on Deepfakes: Committee to Submit Report in 3 Months

Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela made important observations and issued specific directions after reviewing the government’s status report.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) submitted its status report detailing various initiatives. The court noted: “The Ministry is funding a research project titled ‘Fake Speech Detection using Deep Learning Framework’ with a financial outlay of Rs. 47.846 lakhs, aimed at developing comprehensive detection systems.”

Government, Tech Experts, and Victims to Collaborate on Tackling Deepfake Challenges

Addressing ongoing developments, MEITY informed the court: “The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) has developed ‘FakeCheck,’ a desktop application for offline deepfake detection, which is currently being tested by law enforcement agencies.”

The court emphasized the urgency of addressing deepfake concerns, stating: “Every day’s delay in creation, detection, and removal of deepfakes is causing immense hardship to the public at large.”

Issuing specific directions, the court mandated that “the Union of India name the nominees to the Committee relating to the issue of deepfakes within a week.” The court further directed that the Committee “examine and take into consideration the suggestions filed by the petitioners” and study regulations from other jurisdictions, particularly the European Union.

The court also ordered the Committee to “invite and hear the experiences and suggestions of stakeholders like the intermediary platforms, telecommunication service providers, victims of deepfakes, and websites which provide and deploy deepfakes before submitting its report.”

Setting a clear timeline, the court directed the Committee to submit its report “preferably within three months.”

Mr. Manohar Lal appeared with petitioner Chaitanya Rohilla, while Mr. Darpan Wadhwa, Senior Advocate, represented Rajat Sharma. Mr. Chetan Sharma, ASG, with Mr. Apoorv Kurup, appeared for the Union of India.

Case title: Chaitanya Rohilla & Rajat Sharma v. Union of India

[Read Order]