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| Govt tightens social media rules on AI content; mandates 3-hr takedown timeline | | | Early Times Report
NEW DELHI, Feb 10: The government on Tuesday tightened rules for social media platforms such as YouTube and X, mandating the takedown of unlawful content within three hours, and requiring clear labelling of all AI-generated and synthetic content.
The new rules - which came in response to the growing misuse of Artificial Intelligence to create and circulate obscene, deceptive and fake content on social media platforms - require embedding of permanent metadata or identifier with AI content and bans content considered illegal in eyes of law as well as shortens user grievance redressal timelines.
The response timelines have been reduced to two hours for platforms to take down flagged content involving material that exposes private areas, and in case of full or partial nudity, or sexual acts.
In the run-up to the rules, authorities had flagged a rise in AI-generated deepfakes, non-consensual intimate imagery and misleading videos that impersonate individuals or fabricate real-world events, often spreading rapidly online.
The amended IT rules aim to curb such abuse by requiring faster takedowns, mandatory labelling of AI-generated content and stronger accountability from platforms to prevent the promotion and amplification of unlawful synthetic material. It places onus on both social media platforms as well as AI tools.
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued a gazette notification, amending the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. The new rules will come into force on February 20, 2026.
Interestingly, February 20 is also the concluding day of India AI Impact Summit, a mega congregation New Delhi will host as the nation prepares to take the centrestage in global AI conversation.
The tweaked rules explicitly bring AI content within the IT rules framework; it defines AI-generated and synthetic content as one that by means audio, visual or audio-visual "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."
Routine editing, accessibility improvements, and good-faith educational or design work are excluded from this definition.
The new rules require social media platforms to take down any illegal content flagged by the government or courts within three hours instead of the previously 36 hour deadline.
User grievance redressal timelines have also been shortened.
The rules require mandatory labelling of AI content. Platforms enabling creation or sharing of synthetic content must ensure such content is clearly and prominently labelled and embedded with permanent metadata or identifiers, where technically feasible, as per the amended rules.
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.
Intermediaries cannot allow removal or suppression of AI labels or metadata once applied, it said.
It requires stricter user disclosures. Intermediaries must warn users at least once every three months about penalties for violating platform rules and laws, including for misuse of AI-generated content.
Significant social media intermediaries must require users to declare whether content is AI-generated and verify such declarations before publishing.
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