Editorial 1 : Elections in the time of deep fakes
Introduction: The deep fake videos have become a new way to manipulate information. It is being used against PM Modi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, singer Taylor Swift and actor Anil Kapoor. The deep fake videos have their utility, but their notorious use overshadows their benefits.
What are deep fakes?
- The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a “deep fake” as an image or recording that has been convincingly altered and manipulated to misrepresent someone as doing or saying something that was not actually done or said.
Recent example of the use of deep fakes
- Recently, the actor Scarlett Johansson alleged that her voice from the 2013 film Her was used without her consent by Open AI for the voice known as ‘Sky’ in its chatbot.
Indian elections and use of deep fakes
- The security and integrity of the electoral process has traditionally been premised on the integrity of the ballot box, the independence of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and accurate counting of every vote cast.
- Since 1951-52, when India held its first general election, this has been the focus of efforts to keep the process pristine.
- Now there is an additional challenge — the use of AI to influence the outcome.
- One facet of the use of AI is this phenomenon of “deep fakes”.
- On May 6, the ECI issued an advisory to political parties on the “responsible and ethical use of social media in election campaigning”.
- It asked political parties to remove fake content within three hours of it coming to their notice.
Mechanism to deal with deep fakes in India
- The legal provisions available to address such deployment of deep fakes includes the Information Technology Act, 2000, the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 and the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
1. Indian Penal Code, 1860
- The Indian Penal Code, provides three traditional remedies.
- One is Section 468, which deals with the forgery of a document or electronic record for the purposes of cheating.
- Another is Section 505, pertaining to the making, publishing and circulation of any statement, rumour or report with the intent to cause fear or alarm to the public. Both provisions were used to deal with alleged deep fakes purporting to be the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath.
- Further, Section 416 of the Code criminalises cheating by personation, such as when an individual pretends to be some other person or knowingly substitutes one person for another or represents that he or any other person is a person other than who he is.
2. The Information Technology Act, 2000
- The Information Technology Act, 2000 has the potential to provide some redressal against deep fakes.
- Section 66 (c) provides that the sending of any electronic mail or message for the purpose of causing annoyance or deceiving or misleading the recipient will be punished with a term of up to three years in prison.
- Further, the Act, via sections 66 and 67, also punishes cheating by personation, the violation of privacy and the transmission of visual images or publication of images of a “private area” with imprisonment of up to three years.
- These legal provisions, while useful, do not necessarily provide comprehensive protection against the use of AI to generate misinformation, including deep fakes.
No remedy from external influence on elections using AI
- The existing legal regime also provides no remedy for attempts by hostile countries to influence electoral outcomes.
- In 2024, over half the planet is going to polls, including major democracies like India, the US and the UK.
- The Independent reports that British Home Secretary James Cleverly had warned in February that adversaries like Iran or Russia could generate content to sway voters in the elections that are scheduled to be held later in this year in Britain.
- In April, just before the commencement of the Indian general elections, the Microsoft Threat Analysis Centre (MTAC) had warned that China will “at a minimum, create, and amplify AI-generated content to benefit its interests” in elections in India, South Korea and the US.
- Last week, Forbes reported that Russia is looking to influence US opinion against Ukraine and NATO.
- This AI-related campaign includes the use of deep fake videos.
World needs new legal provisions to fight deep fakes
- The battle for the integrity of electoral systems and the formulation of informed public opinion has now been taken into the “virtual” world.
- This will necessarily entail a new legal understanding of what amounts to impersonation and misinformation.
- Europe’s Artificial Intelligence Act, 2024, which will come into force in June, offers some ideas on how to think about a new legal regime to address offences that include the generation of deep fakes whose goal is to “manipulate human behaviour”.
- Law reformers in India need to use the existing legal regime as a foundation to thoughtfully craft new laws that will address AI and deep fakes that look to influence electoral outcomes.
Conclusion: Clearly, the battle for the integrity of electoral systems has now been taken into the digital world. The existing legal provisions are inadequate to fight against virtual malice, India and the world need specific legal provisions targeted against spreading misinformation to influence elections using AI and deepfakes.
Editorial 2 : Power play in the sea
Introduction: On the face of it, the message from China’s military exercise — which included units from the People’s Liberation Army, the PLA-Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard — is unambiguous. According to China’s defence ministry, the drills around Taiwan’s main island are meant to test the military’s ability to “seize power” in key areas — in essence, facilitate an annexation.
Reason for China’s Latest Military Drill Around Taiwan
- The drills, which began suddenly on Thursday, also conducted mock missile strikes targeting key offshore islands as well as strategically and commercially important sea lanes.
- The provocation is the election of Lai Ching Te — who assumed office on May 20 — as President of Taiwan. Lai is from the pro-sovereignty Democratic Progressive Party, which Beijing considers a “separatist” group.
Why Beijing keeps on doing such military drills
- It is easy to view the current exercise as a part of the uneasy equilibrium around Taiwan. In fact, similar drills were conducted by China in 2022 and 2023.
- Beijing keeps rattling the cage to intimidate the significant section of Taiwan’s leadership that is, at least in principle, committed to independence. Taiwan’s leadership has stopped short of forcing a change in the status quo as well.
- After all, it has functional de facto autonomy even though China keeps making a de jure claim to its territory.
- In fact, the military escalation that would inevitably follow any attempt at annexation is bound to inform Beijing’s strategic calculus.
Are military drills by China mere Sabre Rattle or serious threats?
- Two factors in the current moment, draw a complicated picture and need serious attention from the world
1. Reunification remains top agenda of President Xi
- China’s power projection is not merely about intimidation.
- President Xi Jinping has repeated on numerous occasions that the “re-unification” of China and Taiwan is on his agenda, a likely component of his legacy.
- He has also refused to rule out the use of force.
- Even if such a maximalist position is political rhetoric, meant as much for domestic audiences as Taipei and Western capitals, it does not bode well.
2. China is asserting its claim on littoral and bordering states
- Second, military drills and Chinese navy and coast guard patrols do not just project power, they try to assert it.
- There is little doubt that an expansionist China has been “slicing” territory from its neighbours and trying to expand its zone of influence in the South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific as a whole.
- This has caused much alarm in littoral states, many of which have deep economic ties with the aggressor.
Conclusion: China wants to relive its glorious years. For that, it has ventured into dangerous intimidation of its neighbours. It is in this context of intimidation and expansion that the drills are taking place. Great and middle powers with stakes in the region must keep a close watch.