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 |