What Is New Rule Against AI, Deepfake Content in India?

The Indian laws have been very stern when it comes to the imposition of regulations on social media platforms. Now, a pretty big development in this regard has happened as a new refinement has been publicly communicated by the authorities.

The Indian government has introduced significant changes to its digital rules to regulate artificial intelligence-generated content on social media and other platforms.Under the amended rules, all content created or altered using AI including deepfake videos, synthetic audio, and manipulated images must be clearly labelled so users can easily identify it as machine-generated.

These labels must remain permanent and cannot be removed once applied. Platforms are also required to embed identifiable metadata to trace the content’s origin. To curb misuse, companies must deploy automated tools to detect and block illegal or deceptive AI content and ask users to declare whether their uploads were AI-generated. The rules specify that harmful or unlawful synthetic content, such as deepfakes, non-consensual imagery, or false documents, must be removed promptly.

A major shift in enforcement timelines now requires platforms to take down flagged AI-generated or illegal content within three hours of a government or court notice a sharp reduction from the previous 36-hour window.

The new regulations, effective from February 20, 2026, also mandate periodic user warnings about responsible AI use and the legal consequences of violations.