AI-Generated And Deepfake Content: Rules, Regulations, And How To Report A Grievance

Digital fraud is becoming a serious threat these days due to the increasing use of digital tools and technology. Deepfake content and personality rights legal cases are getting more common. Recently, parliamentarian Kangana Ranaut raised concerns in the Lok Sabha regarding the increasing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and deepfake technologies for creating misleading and distorted digital content. She also highlighted the misuse of technology to target deities, national heroes, historical personalities, and Indian cultural traditions.

In response, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Jitin Prasada, gave a written reply acknowledging the growing threats of synthetic audio, video, and text and how the system is working to protect against such threats.  

Let’s understand the rules and regulations set for the digital space.

Rules And Regulations

According to the reply, the government has established a legal framework to protect against digital manipulation. The Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act) covers offences such as identity theft (Section 66C), impersonation (Section 66D), and privacy violations (Section 66E). Further, the Act also provides the government with the power to issue "blocking orders" under Section 69A and removal notices under Section 79.

Besides this, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) targets the spread of misinformation and public mischief under Section 353, and organised cybercrimes involving deepfakes under Section 111.

In addition to this, the IT Rules, 2021, mandate that the intermediaries must perform due diligence so that users do not “host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, update or share" content that is invasive of privacy, or misleads or deceives, including deepfakes.

It also mandates the significant Social Media Intermediaries (SSMIs)—those having over 50 lakh registered users—to use automated tools to detect and limit the spread of unlawful content, assist law enforcement in tracing originators of sensitive content, and publish compliance reports.

Recent Amendments To The Rules

On February 10, 2026, the government introduced some significant amendments to the IT Rules, 2021, to address the Synthetically Generated Information (SGI). The advisory suggests updating the clear labelling and traceable metadata for AI-generated content, enabling users to identify the synthetic material and prevent deception. The amendment also covers harmful AI-generated content, including child sexual exploitation material, non-consensual intimate imagery,” and impersonation.

Most importantly, the compliance timelines have been drastically shortened in the amendment. It is slashed from 36 hours to 3 hours now for the removal of unlawful information upon receiving a government or court order. For sensitive matters like non-consensual nudity or impersonation, the grievance redressal timeline has been reduced from 24 hours to 2 hours.

The intermediaries are now obligated to deploy appropriate technical measures to identify and block prohibited content, such as child sexual abuse or content identical to previously removed material, proactively.

In failing to follow these rules, the intermediaries can be held liable for consequential action or prosecution as per the law.

Grievance Redressal Mechanism

According to the rules, the intermediaries are required to appoint Grievance Officers to resolve complaints within the set timelines.

If a user is not satisfied with the intermediary’s decision, they can appeal online through the official website of the Grievance Appellate Committees (GACs) at https://www.gac.gov.in. The idea is to ensure accountability and transparency in the system.

Note that intermediaries manage only platform-level moderation, and investigation of criminal acts remains the responsibility of Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs). Since police and public order are State subjects, the reply reads that they (States and Union Territories) are primarily responsible for prosecuting cybercrimes.