India Mandates AI Content Labeling on Social Media

The Indian government has introduced stricter regulations on artificial intelligence-generated content on social media platforms, requiring companies to label such material, embed tracking metadata and remove flagged deepfakes within three hours. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology notified the amendments to the Information Technology Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code Rules, 2021, on Tuesday, with the changes set to take effect on February 20, 2026.

The new rules formally define synthetically generated information as audio, visual or audiovisual content created, modified or altered using AI tools in a way that appears authentic and could mislead viewers. This includes deepfakes, which use AI to manipulate media so people appear to say or do things they did not. However, the definitions exclude routine editing tasks such as cropping, color correction, adding subtitles or accessibility improvements, as well as good-faith educational or design work.

Under the amendments, platforms like Instagram, X and YouTube must ensure that AI-generated or synthetic content is clearly and prominently labeled to inform users it is not real. Where technically...