With proof of deepfakes meddling in U.S. election proceedings, a senior government official is ensuring deepfakes do not ruin India’s upcoming election.
Companies have been issued with a warning against allowing AI-generated deepfakes to infiltrate their websites with the election approaching.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister for Electronics and IT, claimed that India is one of the most worldly countries about the deepfake problem because of its population of online users. Deepfakes are interfering with customer interactions and commercial rates across the private-public sphere, however, the threat to democracy in a national election represents a serious concern, which is also impacting the U.S election.
A deepfake has the potential to deter voters’ participation or sway election results, ultimately defrauding citizens of their right to vote and freedom of speech. India is wielding the threat of laws and regulations against companies to manage outbreaks of deepfakes within industries. There are dozens of use cases where deepfakes penetrate to affect customers, but mostly organisations, for example social media platforms, travel, banking and finance institutions. Across some federations of the U.S., states are implementing regulation on AI in order to tackle deepfakes.
Customers and tech giants are being urged to recognise the signs of deepfakes, and remove them from social media sites.
The Financial Times reports that India wants to create “a form of tech regulation that is in between the US and Europe” to “protect its small businesses and users”.
