Govt mulls new AI law to safeguard interests of news publishers and content creators

Delhi: The government aims to draft a new legislation on artificial intelligence (AI) that prioritises safeguarding the interests of news publishers and content creators while mitigating potential harm to users, announced Ashwini Vaishnaw, the union minister for electronics and information technology, in a media briefing.

Vaishnaw emphasised to the media that the forthcoming law will strike a "very balanced" approach, ensuring fair treatment and equitable sharing of benefits among news publishers, content creators, and AI technologies like large language models (LLMs), while fostering an environment conducive to innovation.

This legislation could either stand independently or become part of the Digital India Bill, slated to replace the 24-year-old Information Technology Act, 2000.

Acknowledging the ongoing transition, Vaishnaw stressed the importance of ensuring a smooth shift to prevent disruptions given the multitude of livelihoods involved. Additionally, he underscored the need to respect creativity in terms of intellectual property rights and financial implications, sentiments shared with industry stakeholders.

While some companies advocate for a self-regulatory approach, Vaishnaw believes legislative intervention is necessary and plans to initiate a formal consultation process post-elections to move towards enacting regulations.

These developments coincide with the global momentum for protecting the rights of publishers and content creators. In India, there have been calls for amendments to information technology rules to guarantee fair compensation for content usage by generative AI models, amidst rising AI-related copyright disputes worldwide.

The Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) had actively lobbied the ministries of electronics and information technology, and information and broadcasting, urging safeguards against potential copyright infringements by AI models.