By Anuradha Gandhi and Rachita Thakur
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has issued a late night advisory on March 01, 2024 (hereinafter referred to as the “Advisory”) asking all platforms to ensure that “their resources do not permit any bias or discrimination or threaten the integrity of the electoral process” by the use of AI, generative AI, LLMs or any such other algorithm.1 The Advisory comes across as a step to increase transparency and accountability regarding AI models deployed in the nation.
In an event, the Union Minister of State for electronics and information technology, Shri Rajeev Chandrashekhar said, “We are doing it as an advisory today asking you (the AI platforms) to comply with it. If you do not comply with it, at some point, there will be a law and legislation that (will) make it difficult for you not to do it.”
What led to the issuance of this Advisory?
Recently, a social media post on platform X claimed that Google’s AI chatbot Gemini was biased when asked if Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi was a “facist”. This drew sharp responses from the union minister of IT and electronics Shri Ashwini Vaishnav as well as Shri Rajeev Chandrashekhar. While Shri Vaishnav at an event said that such biases would not be tolerated, Shri Chandrashekhar had said that India users were not to be experimented on with “unreliable” platforms, algorithms and models and that the response of Gemini violated the Information Technology(Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (hereinafter referred to as the IT Rules).2
Google’s Response
Google later stated that it was working to fix the issues and was temporarily stopping Gemini form generating images as well.
The Advisory
- The Advisory has asked all the platforms that deploy generative AI models to offer their services to Indian users only after “appropriately labeling the possible and inherent fallibility or unreliability of the output generated”. Further, the labeling is to be in such a manner that such information may be used potentially a misinformation or deepfake or the intermediaries can imbed the content with a “permanent unique metadata or identifier”.3
- It further states that the intermediaries and platforms must ensure that their AI models, large language models and, generative AI and algorithms do not permit users to “host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, store, update or share” any content that falls within the 11 categories under Rule 3(1) (b) of the IT Rules.
- The platforms will have to explicitly seek permission from the government to operate in India and must offer disclaimers and disclosures of the platforms being under testing.
Rule 3(1) (b) of the IT Rules mandates the social media platforms to inform about it rules and regulations, privacy policy and user agreement to the user in either in English or any language specified in the Eight Schedule of the Constitution and shall also make reasonable efforts to ensure that the content posted on the platform is genuine and does not fall in any of the 11 categories mentioned therein.4
The Clarification
The Union Minister, Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar on March 04, 2024 clarified that Centre’s Advisory requiring the technology and social media companies to seek permission before deploying AI products in India that are still under-testing or are unreliable in any form is applicable to “large platforms” and not start-ups.
Earlier Advisories
This Advisory has been issued in continuation of the advisory on misinformation and deepfakes that was issued on December 26, 2023 wherein the MeitY had given intermediaries a week’s time to ensure compliance and submit an “Action Taken-cum-Status Report”.
1 https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/technology/govt-directs-social-media-generative-ai-platforms-to-comply-with-it-rules/articleshow/108162287.cms?from=mdr
2 https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/undertesting-ai-models-must-get-govt-permission-before-deployment-meity-101709390335142-amp.html
3 https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/undertesting-ai-models-must-get-govt-permission-before-deployment-meity-101709390335142-amp.html
4 Rule 3 (1) (b) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Ethics Code) Rules, 2021
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