Parliament panel seeks tech, legal solutions to check AI-based fake news

New Delhi: Expressing concern over the spreading of Artificial Intelligence-generated fake news, a parliamentary committee has asked the government to develop legal and technological solutions for identifying and prosecuting individuals and entities responsible for spreading misinformation.

The Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology,  headed by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, in its draft report, suggested a balanced approach for deploying AI to curb fake news, noting that the technology is being used to detect misinformation but can be a source of misinformation as well.

The draft report of the committee was recently submitted to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. It will be tabled in Parliament during the next session.

The Committee, which made recommendations following months of interactions with different stakeholders, observed that fake news is a "serious threat" to public order and democratic process, and suggested amending penal provisions, increasing fines and fixing accountability to deal with the issue.

It also favoured a mandatory presence of a fact-checking mechanism and an internal ombudsman in all print, digital and electronic media organisations.

The Committee also urged for "close coordination between the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), and other ministries and departments concerned to develop concrete legal and technological solutions for identifying and prosecuting individuals and entities responsible for disseminating AI-generated fake news", according to sources.

The Committee has recommended inter-ministerial coordination for exploring the feasibility of licensing requirements for AI content creators and mandatory labelling of AI-generated videos and content.

It also noted that the MeitY has constituted a nine-member panel to examine problems related to the "issue of deepfakes". Two projects to detect fake news currently underway are: fake speech detection using a deep learning framework and design and development of software for detecting deepfake videos and images, it said.

While stating that advances in technology, particularly in AI, offer promising solutions to address concerns over fake news, the Committee highlighted the related ministries' stand that AI is evolving and works on the use of pre-existing information available on the internet.

The ministries also told the Committee that in its present state, AI cannot be used for a subject as complicated as fact-checking. However, AI could be used to flag potentially fake news and misleading content for review by human intervention as a second layer of monitoring, the Committee added.