Par panel urges govt to develop legal, tech solutions to act against those behind AI-based fake news
New Delhi, Sep 14 (PTI): A parliamentary committee has asked the government to develop concrete legal and technological solutions for identifying and prosecuting individuals and entities responsible for spreading Artificial Intelligence-generated fake news.
The Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, in its draft report, called for a balanced approach for deploying AI to curb fake news, noting that the technology is being used to detect misinformation but can be a source of misinformation as well.
The draft report of the committee, headed by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, was recently submitted to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. It will be tabled in Parliament during the next session.
The Committee also urged for "close coordination between the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), and other ministries and departments concerned to develop concrete legal and technological solutions for identifying and prosecuting individuals and entities responsible for disseminating AI-generated fake news", according to sources.
The Committee has recommended inter-ministerial coordination for exploring the feasibility of licensing requirements for AI content creators and mandatory labelling of AI-generated videos and content.
The committee's suggestions are not binding on the government. However, the government often looks to implement them as parliamentary committees are representative of Parliament, and their recommendations often carry the weight of bipartisan spirit.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the Committee noted, has constituted a nine-member panel to examine problems related to the "issue of deepfakes".
Two projects to detect fake news currently underway are: fake speech detection using a deep learning framework and design and development of software for detecting deepfake videos and images, it said.
While stating that advances in technology, particularly in AI, offer promising solutions to address concerns over fake news, the Committee highlighted the related ministries' stand that AI is evolving and works on the use of pre-existing information available on the internet.
In its present state, it cannot be used for a subject as complicated as fact-checking, the ministries told the Committee.
But AI could be used to flag potentially fake news and misleading content for review by human intervention as a second layer of monitoring, the Committee added.
The Committee said various research projects and initiatives are exploring AI's use in combating fake news.
"AI and machine learning (ML) technologies are increasingly being employed to enhance the ability to detect, verify, and prevent the spread of misinformation and disinformation," it said.
The Committee, which made wide-ranging recommendations following months of interactions with different stakeholders, called fake news a "serious threat" to public order and democratic process, and called for amending penal provisions, increasing fines and fixing accountability to deal with the issue.
It also favoured mandatory presence of a fact-checking mechanism and an internal ombudsman in all print, digital and electronic media organisations.
The Committee, however, has added that this should involve and emerge from a consensus-building exercise among media bodies and relevant stakeholders.
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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