Congress MP Rajeev Shukla yesterday urged Parliament to tackle the rising threat of artificial intelligence-generated fake videos, calling for urgent legislative and institutional action during Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, including setting up a content monitoring agency.

Shukla told the Upper House that deepfake and AI-manipulated content was being circulated widely on digital platforms, causing reputational harm and misleading the public.

He stressed that existing legal frameworks were inadequate to address the fast-evolving technology, and that real-time identification of fake videos is currently not possible with available tools.

The senior Congress member proposed the establishment of a national content monitoring agency equipped to detect and flag AI-generated misinformation. He also sought stringent laws against the creation and dissemination of deepfake content, and advocated for digital literacy and public awareness programmes to help citizens recognize and resist manipulated media.

Shukla pointed out that the misuse of technology disproportionately affects vulnerable groups and undermines public trust in democratic discourse. He asked the government to intervene and outline a roadmap for legislative reforms that would empower regulators to act against bad actors exploiting AI for deceptive purposes.

In recent times, the clamour for digital content regulation and monitoring has been growing in and outside parliament in India, including courts observing that digital content, which are also streamed on OTT platforms, should be brought under regulations so punitive actions can be taken against defaulters.