EveryAILaw.comDoes IT (Intermediary Guidelines) Amendment Rules 2026 — Synthetic Media require Transparency & Disclosure?
India • enforcing
Yes — 1 provision
Requirements at a glance
This regulation imposes 8 specific requirements for Transparency & Disclosure across 1 provision:
- Prominent labeling — Synthetically generated information (SGI) must carry prominent, visible labels
- Permanent metadata — Technical provenance mechanisms (e.g., unique identifiers) must be embedded and preserved
- Removal prevention — Intermediaries must not allow labels or metadata to be modified, suppressed, or removed
- Audio disclosure — Audio SGI must carry a prominently prefixed audio disclosure identifying it as synthetically generated
- Blocking unlawful SGI — Deploy reasonable and appropriate technical measures to prevent users creating or transmitting SGI unlawful under Indian law
- Court/government-flagged unlawful SGI — Unlawful SGI flagged by court order or authorised government intimation must be removed within 3 hours (Rule 3(1)(d), amended from thirty-six hours)
- Priority unlawful content — Content under Rule 3(2)(b) (e.g., non-consensual intimate imagery) must be removed within 2 hours of a complaint (amended from twenty-four hours)
- SSMI user declaration — Significant social media intermediaries must require users to declare SGI, verify the declaration with technical measures, and label confirmed SGI (Rule 4(1A))
Synthetic Media Labeling and Provenance #
India's first binding synthetic media obligations: intermediaries enabling AI-generated content (deepfakes, audio/video synthesis) must embed permanent provenance metadata and prominent labels — and prevent their removal. Non-compliance forfeits safe harbor under the IT Act 2000.
Requirements
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Prominent labeling | Synthetically generated information (SGI) must carry prominent, visible labels |
| Permanent metadata | Technical provenance mechanisms (e.g., unique identifiers) must be embedded and preserved |
| Removal prevention | Intermediaries must not allow labels or metadata to be modified, suppressed, or removed |
| Audio disclosure | Audio SGI must carry a prominently prefixed audio disclosure identifying it as synthetically generated |
| Blocking unlawful SGI | Deploy reasonable and appropriate technical measures to prevent users creating or transmitting SGI unlawful under Indian law |
| Court/government-flagged unlawful SGI | Unlawful SGI flagged by court order or authorised government intimation must be removed within 3 hours (Rule 3(1)(d), amended from thirty-six hours) |
| Priority unlawful content | Content under Rule 3(2)(b) (e.g., non-consensual intimate imagery) must be removed within 2 hours of a complaint (amended from twenty-four hours) |
| SSMI user declaration | Significant social media intermediaries must require users to declare SGI, verify the declaration with technical measures, and label confirmed SGI (Rule 4(1A)) |
Penalties
| Violation | Fine |
|---|---|
| Non-compliance with due diligence | |
| Failure to act after knowledge |