Indian Government tightens IT rules to tackle harms arising from synthetically generated information (SGI), including deepfakes and AI-generated content

To ensure the safety of users from cyber threats and harmful content online, the Indian government has strengthened the regulatory framework by amending the IT Rules 2021 to address harms arising from SGI, including deepfakes and AI-generated content.

Government amends the IT Rules 2021

According to the amendment, intermediaries are required to ensure clear labelling and traceable metadata for permissible AI-generated content, so that users can easily identify synthetically generated material and prevent deception or misuse.

It further strengthens user accountability and platform due diligence, including mandatory user awareness regarding the legal consequences of unlawful AI-generated content and stronger compliance obligations for social media intermediaries. The guidelines also explicitly cover child sexual exploitation material, non-consensual intimate imagery, impersonation and other harmful AI-generated content, requiring platforms to prevent such content and take prompt action when detected.

The government has reduced timelines for removal of unlawful information from 36 hours to 3 hours upon actual knowledge upon valid reasoned intimation from the Appropriate Government or court orders. The timeline for grievance redressal (including special categories such as nudity/impersonation, etc) is reduced from 72 hours to 36 hours, and from 24 hours to 2 hours for sensitive matters, respectively.

The intermediaries are also obligated to deploy reasonable and appropriate technical measures, including automated tools or other suitable mechanisms, to not allow any user to create, generate, modify, alter, publish, transmit, share or disseminate, as the case may be, any synthetically generated information that violates any law for the time being in force.

Apart from this, IT Rules also mandates the Significant Social Media Intermediaries (SSMIs) to take reasonable efforts to deploy appropriate technical measures, including automated tools or other suitable mechanisms, to proactively identify information that depicts any act or simulation in any form depecting rape, child sexual abuse or conduct, whether explicit or implicit, or any information which is exactly identical in content to information that has previously been removed.

It is specified that in case of failure of the intermediaries to observe the legal obligations as provided in the IT Rules, they lose their exemption from third party information provided under section 79 of the IT Act. They are liable for consequential action or prosecution as provided under any extant law.

The government has also adopted a risk-based approach to AI governance through the India AI Governance Guidelines released in November 2025 and is supporting indigenous deepfake detection technologies under the IndiaAI Mission.