Govt directs social media platforms to label, take down AI-generated deepfake content in 3 hours

The IT Ministry has issued revised guidelines for social media intermediaries like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, directing them to clearly label all AI-generated content and ensure that such synthetic material carries embedded identifiers. The government has set a three-hour deadline for social media platforms to take down AI-generated or deepfake content once a court flags it or orders removal. The official notification also barred digital platforms from allowing the removal or suppression of AI labels or associated metadata once they have been applied.

According to the updated guidelines, social media platforms must deploy reasonable and appropriate technical measures, including automated tools or other suitable mechanisms, to prevent any user from creating, generating, modifying, altering, publishing, transmitting, sharing, or disseminating synthetically generated information that violates any current law, including the Act, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (45 of 2023), the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (32 of 2012), and the Explosive Substances Act, 1908 (6 of 1908).

 The draft rules propose requiring users to disclose when posting AI-generated or altered content and mandate that platforms implement technology to verify these disclosures.

Social media platforms have already introduced features allowing users to label content as AI-generated or modified.