India Takes First Step Towards Regulating AI & Deepfake Content

India has taken its first step towards regulating the rising threat of deepfakes and AI-generated misinformation. On October 22, 2025, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) released draft amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

With deepfakes becoming increasingly sophisticated and generative AI tools widely used, concerns about identity theft and organized misinformation campaigns have intensified.

According to the new draft rules:

• Social media platforms must require users to declare any AI-generated or AI-altered content.

• Social media intermediaries will be responsible for labeling content, and platform owners can flag accounts of users violating the rules.

• AI watermarks and labels must be visible across at least 10% of the content’s duration or size.

The Ministry has requested feedback from industry stakeholders by November 6, 2025.

Growing Concerns

The draft rules reflect increasing concern over deepfakes or fabricated content that mimic a person’s appearance, voice, or behavior. Tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google Gemini have made generating such synthetic content easier.

Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the amendment increases accountability for users, companies, and the government. Top AI firms consulted by the Centre confirmed that metadata can be used to identify AI-altered content, and the rules have been drafted accordingly, an IT official said.