India’s Deepfake Blind Spot: The Case Against A Downstream-Only Criminal Framework
- IJLLR Journal
- Jun 6
- 1 min read
Akanksha Singh, LL.M., Dharmashastra National Law University, Jabalpur, M.P.
ABSTRACT
The rapid proliferation of deepfake technology has emerged as one of the most formidable challenges confronting contemporary legal systems. Characterised by an unprecedented degree of realism, near-zero creation costs, and exponential scalability, deepfakes function not merely as a novel category of digital harm but as a multiplier technology, amplifying traditional offences such as fraud, defamation, impersonation, and non- consensual pornography to a qualitatively new level of severity. India's existing statutory framework, comprising the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the Information Technology Rules, 2021, addresses deepfake-related harms only incidentally, responding to their downstream consequences such as defamation, obscenity, and identity theft, while remaining conspicuously silent on the upstream conduct of unlawful creation and dissemination. Even the landmark 2026 amendments to the IT Rules, which introduced definitional clarity for synthetic media and strengthened intermediary obligations, operate within a predominantly reactive and harm-remedial paradigm. This downstream-centric approach is structurally inadequate, as deepfakes inflict irreversible damage within moments of dissemination, leaving little room for preventive intervention.
This article argues that deepfakes possess sufficiently distinct technological characteristics such as realism, virality, scalability, and persuasiveness, warranting an independent statutory-penal recognition under Indian law. This article advocates for the insertion of an upstream-focused criminal provision that penalises the intentional creation and distribution of harmful deepfake content as an independent offence, alongside targeted regulatory reforms to expand intermediary accountability.
