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New Delhi: The electronics and information technology ministry (Meity) has asked tech companies in India to block advertisements promoting illegal loan and betting applications.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
This advisory, issued on Tuesday, aligns with the Reserve Bank of India’s earlier directions on curbing such fraudulent apps.<\/p>\n
\u201cIntermediaries and platforms should take additional measures to not permit any advertisements of illegal loan and betting apps having potential to scam and mislead users, the consequences of which will be the sole responsibility of the intermediaries and platforms,” the advisory said.<\/p>\n
The crackdown comes as part of India\u2019s efforts to clamp down on the proliferation of fraudulent instant loan apps, and protect users’ personal data from misuse.<\/p>\n
The advisory issued on Tuesday focuses on the need for platforms to issue clear instructions to users warning them against deepfake content, as well as the legal consequences of using or creating such content.<\/p>\n
\u201cContent not permitted under the IT Rules, in particular those listed under Rule 3(1)(b), must be clearly communicated to the users in clear and precise language, including through its terms of service and user agreements; the same must be expressly informed to the user at the time of first registration, and also as regular reminders, in particular, at every instance of login, and while uploading or sharing information onto the platform,” the advisory read.<\/p>\n
The document also mandates that users must be informed about the potential legal repercussions under various laws. \u201cUsers must be made aware of various penal provisions of the Indian Penal Code 1860, the IT Act, 2000 and such other laws that may be attracted in case of violation of Rule 3(1)(b). In addition, terms of service and user agreements must clearly highlight that intermediaries are under obligation to report legal violations to law enforcement agencies under the relevant Indian laws applicable to the context,” it said.<\/p>\n
In an interview with Mint on13 December, union minister of state for information technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, said the Centre was to issue an advisory, and not a new legislation, urging firms to comply with existing laws on deepfakes. \u201cThere is no separate regulation for deepfakes. The existing regulations already cover it under Rule 3(1)(b)(v) of IT Rules, 2021. We are now seeking 100% enforcement by the platforms, and for platforms to be more proactive\u2014including alignment of terms of use, and educating users of 12 no-go areas\u2014which they should have done by now, but have not. As a result, we are issuing an advisory to them,” he added.<\/p>\n
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