Govt to enable citizens to file FIRs against social media firms for IT rule violation

The government will assist citizens in filing FIRs against social media platforms for violation of IT rules in case they are aggrieved from objectionable content like deepfakes.

Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) will develop a platform where users can notify about IT rule violations by social media platforms.

"Meity will assist users to very easily notify it about violation of IT rules and assist them in filing FIRs," the minister said.

He was speaking to the media after a meeting with social media platforms. "From today onwards, there is zero tolerance for violation of IT rules," Chandrasekhar said.

The FIRs will be registered against the intermediary, and if they disclose the details from where the content has originated, then the FIR will be filed against the entity that has posted the content, the minister said.

He added that social media platforms have been given seven days time to align their terms of use, as per the IT rules.

The action follows a furore over the subject after a deepfake of actor Rashmika Mandanna went viral on social media platforms earlier this month.

On Thursday, Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said the government would make rules around deepfakes, synthetic media that mimics authentic images, video and audio, and set out rules to prevent their dissemination online. The minister also met with representatives from social media and technology firms and said the companies were all of the view that action was warranted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also spoken on the dangers of deepfakes at a Deepavali event.

(With inputs from PTI)