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Amid deepfake concerns, MeitY’s draft rules mandate labelling, metadata tagging, and visibility standards for AI content on social media
MeitY’s draft rules
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on October 22 released draft amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, aimed at tackling the misuse of generative AI and deepfake technologies.
The proposed changes introduce a formal definition of “synthetically generated information” and mandate that platforms—especially Significant Social Media Intermediaries (SSMIs)—label such content using metadata, and visible or audible identifiers.
Under existing IT Rules, SSMIs are platforms with over 5 million registered users in India, such as Facebook, YouTube, and Snapchat, which are subject to additional compliance obligations.
According to the newly proposed Rule 3(3), any platform that enables the creation of synthetically generated or AI-based content must ensure that such information is “prominently labelled or embedded with a permanent unique metadata or identifier.” The identifier must be visible or audible, covering at least 10% of the surface area of a visual display or, in the case of audio content, during the first 10% of its duration.
The draft further clarifies that this metadata or identifier cannot be altered, suppressed, or removed under any circumstances.
Platforms facilitating the creation or modification of synthetic or AI-generated content must also adopt technical mechanisms to verify and declare whether uploaded content has been generated using AI tools, MeitY stated.
The ministry said these amendments are part of its broader effort to ensure an “open, safe, trusted, and accountable Internet”, while addressing the rising risks of misinformation, impersonation, and election-related manipulation linked to generative AI.
MeitY has invited stakeholder feedback on the draft amendments by November 6, 2025, via email at itrules.consultation@meity.gov.in.
Aparna Deb is a Subeditor and writes for the business vertical of News18.com. She has a nose for news that matters. She is inquisitive and curious about things. Among other things, financial markets, economy, a…Read More
Aparna Deb is a Subeditor and writes for the business vertical of News18.com. She has a nose for news that matters. She is inquisitive and curious about things. Among other things, financial markets, economy, a… Read More
October 22, 2025, 15:19 IST
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