Overview
- MeitY’s gazette notification (G.S.R. 120(E)) formally amends the IT Rules to regulate AI-generated content, with the changes taking effect on February 20, 2026.
- Platforms must prominently disclose synthetically generated content, embed persistent metadata or provenance where feasible, and prevent labels or identifiers from being removed.
- Significant social media intermediaries are required to collect user declarations at upload and use automated tools to verify them before publication.
- Takedown and grievance timelines are sharply compressed, including a three-hour window for certain lawful orders and faster actions for non-consensual intimate imagery, with broader response deadlines cut across the board.
- The rules define synthetically generated information, exempt routine editing, link prohibited synthetic content to criminal statutes (including BNS, POCSO and the Explosive Substances Act), drop an earlier fixed-size watermark proposal, require periodic user warnings, and clarify that good-faith removals do not forfeit safe-harbour protections.