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Govt tightens AI use on social media, sets 3-hour deadline to take down flagged content
The earlier deadline for social media platforms to remove flagged content was 36 hours.
The government has set a deadline of 3 hours for social media platforms to remove content that is flagged by the authorities for violating local laws, according to new order issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. The earlier deadline was 36 hours as new rules will come into force from February 20, 2026.
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As the government tightened rules around for handling AI-generated and synthetic content, including deepfakes, on social media platforms such as X and Instagram, the new rules also include mandatory labelling of AI content, news agency PTI reported.
AI-generated content will be treated on par with other information for determining unlawful acts under IT rules.
The government notified amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, that formally define AI-generated and synthetic content.
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The amendments define "audio, visual or audio-visual information" and "synthetically-generated information", covering AI-created or altered content that appears real or authentic. Routine editing, accessibility improvements, and good-faith educational or design work are excluded from this definition.
Intermediaries offering tools that enable the creation or dissemination of "synthetic content" must ensure such material carries a clear and prominent label. Where technically feasible, platforms are also required to embed permanent metadata or provenance identifiers to trace the origin of such content, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) said in a notification.
"Synthetically generated information means audio, visual or audio-visual information which is artificially or algorithmically created, generated, modified or altered using a computer resource, in a manner that such information appears to be real, authentic or true and depicts or portrays any individual or event in a manner that is, or is likely to be perceived as indistinguishable from a natural person or real-world event," the notification said.
Calling for ban on illegal AI content, it said platforms must deploy automated tools to prevent AI content that is illegal, deceptive, sexually exploitative, non-consensual, or related to false documents, child abuse material, explosives, or impersonation.
