The Government of India has strengthened its regulatory, technological and public-awareness framework to address the growing threat posed by artificial intelligence-generated deepfakes, including manipulated audio, video, images and text.
The measures combine existing criminal laws, stricter obligations for online platforms, faster content-removal timelines, indigenous deepfake-detection technologies and nationwide cybersecurity awareness programmes. The government has also approved 13 Responsible AI projects under the IndiaAI Mission, including projects focused on detecting manipulated audio and visual content.
Existing Laws Cover Deepfake-Related Offences
Deepfake-related offences can be addressed under several provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000. These include identity theft under Section 66C, online impersonation under Section 66D, privacy violations under Section 66E and the publication or transmission of obscene or sexually explicit material under Sections 67 and 67A.
The Act also empowers the government to block access to unlawful online information under Section 69A and direct intermediaries to remove information being used for illegal activities. Police authorities are empowered to investigate such offences under the relevant provisions of the Act.
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, provides additional legal safeguards. Section 353 penalises the circulation of false or misleading statements, rumours and reports capable of causing public fear or mischief. Organised cybercrime involving deepfake material may also be prosecuted under Section 111.
Online Platforms Required to Exercise Greater Accountability
Under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, online intermediaries must prevent users from hosting, publishing or sharing content that is obscene, invasive of privacy, harmful to children, misleading, impersonating another person or threatening national security and public order.
The rules specifically cover deceptive deepfakes and AI-enabled impersonation. Platforms are required to clearly inform users about the possible consequences of circulating unlawful material, including content removal, account suspension and termination.
Significant Social Media Intermediaries with at least five million registered users in India are subject to additional obligations. Messaging platforms may be required to assist law-enforcement agencies in identifying the originator of serious unlawful content.
Large platforms must also use automated tools to detect and restrict unlawful material, publish compliance reports, appoint India-based officers and provide internal appeal mechanisms to users affected by content-moderation decisions.
Users whose complaints are not satisfactorily addressed by a platform’s grievance officer can approach the government’s Grievance Appellate Committees through the GAC portal. These committees are intended to strengthen accountability and transparency in online content-moderation decisions.
Faster Removal of Unlawful AI-Generated Content
The government amended the IT Rules on February 10, 2026, to specifically address harms caused by synthetically generated information, including deepfakes and other AI-generated content.
Under the amended framework, permissible AI-generated material must carry clear labels and traceable metadata so that users can identify synthetic content. The amendments also reinforce platform responsibility for preventing child sexual exploitation material, non-consensual intimate imagery, impersonation and other harmful AI-generated content.
The timeline for removing unlawful information following a valid government intimation or court order has been reduced from 36 hours to three hours. The general grievance-redressal period for certain categories has been reduced from 72 hours to 36 hours, while the deadline for responding to highly sensitive complaints involving matters such as nudity and impersonation has been reduced from 24 hours to two hours.
Intermediaries must deploy reasonable technical measures, including automated detection systems, to prevent users from creating, modifying, publishing or circulating synthetic information that violates Indian law.
Platforms that fail to meet their due-diligence obligations may lose the legal protection available to intermediaries under Section 79 of the IT Act. Such platforms can subsequently face prosecution or other action under applicable laws.
Advisories Issued to Social Media Companies
The government has issued several advisories directing online intermediaries to strengthen their internal compliance systems, content-moderation practices and enforcement mechanisms.
An advisory issued on December 29, 2025, asked platforms to prevent the circulation of vulgar, obscene, pornographic and other unlawful content. Another advisory issued on February 9, 2026, called for greater sensitivity and accuracy in the handling of religious content.
A separate advisory issued on March 16, 2026, addressed abusive, defamatory, objectionable and misleading synthetically generated information.
The government has also introduced a Standard Operating Procedure to curb the online circulation of non-consensual intimate imagery. Released on November 11, 2025, the procedure provides guidance to victims, online platforms and law-enforcement agencies for taking prompt and uniform action against intimate or digitally altered images shared without consent.
Indigenous Deepfake-Detection Systems Under Development
Under the Safe and Trusted AI pillar of the IndiaAI Mission, 13 Responsible AI projects have been approved at educational institutions across the country. Several of these initiatives are focused on developing indigenous systems for detecting deepfakes and manipulated digital content.
Among the approved initiatives is Saakshya, a multi-agent deepfake-detection framework being developed by IIT Jodhpur and IIT Madras. Other projects include AI Vishleshak, which is intended to improve audio-visual forgery detection, and a real-time voice deepfake-detection system being developed by IIT Kharagpur.
Over 11.37 Lakh People Covered Through Awareness Programmes
The government is also expanding cybersecurity education through the Information Security Education and Awareness programme.
A total of 6,650 cybersecurity awareness workshops have been conducted across India, benefiting more than 11.37 lakh participants. The programmes have covered school and college students, teachers, law-enforcement personnel, government employees and members of the general public.
Multilingual cybersecurity material, including handbooks, videos, posters, brochures and educational stories for children, is being distributed through print, electronic and social-media platforms.
The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team also regularly publishes advisories, safety guidelines, posters, infographics and videos dealing with AI-related threats, deepfakes, cyber fraud and online child safety.
The information was presented in the Lok Sabha by Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Jitin Prasada on July 29, 2026.
Reference
Press Information Bureau, Government of India
“Government Strengthens Framework to Counter AI-Generated Deepfakes through Legal Safeguards, Platform Accountability and Citizen Protection”
Published: July 30, 2026
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2291671®=48&lang=1
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