NEW DELHI: Observing that “constitutional authorities must be trusted”, Delhi HC on Thursday left it to EC to deal with issue of
deepfakes
being used in Lok Sabha
poll
campaigning, and refused to issue any directions to EC “in the middle of elections”.
HC, however, directed the petitioner, a lawyers’ collective, to make a representation to the commission on
guidelines
to prevent
misuse
of deepfake videos, and told the poll panel to expeditiously decide by May 6 the representation, keeping in mind urgency of the issue.
The petition has sought directions to EC to “formulate and implement guidelines to address public harm and democratic crisis caused by pervasive use of deepfakes” in campaigning.
Disposing of the plea, a bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet P S Arora bench, however, said: “We must trust the EC…All of this was to be done before the elections. At the 11th hour, courts cannot interfere.”
The plea also sought a direction to social media platforms to take down and block deepfake content or those concerning candidates until the declaration of poll results.
