India’s Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) this week issued an advisory saying social media companies need to remove deepfakes from their platforms within 36 hours after they’re reported.

“It is a legal obligation for online platforms to prevent the spread of misinformation by any user under the Information Technology (IT) rules, 2021. They are further mandated to remove such content within 36 hours upon receiving a report from either a user or government authority,” said Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar in the advisory.

The ministry warned that failure to act would mean an organization would not be protected from being held liable for third-party information hosted on their sites.

Chandrasekhar encouraged those who find themselves impacted by deepfakes to file First Information Reports (FIRs) at the police station.

The advisory came after Indian actor Rashmika Mandanna made a statement online regarding a viral deepfake video she unwittingly stars in.

“Something like this is honestly extremely scary, not only for me,