Govt not asking creators to restrict AI content, but to label it: Meity

The government is not seeking to control or restrict online content but rather to ensure transparency by requiring creators to label AI-generated content so that audiences can make informed choices, Electronics and IT Secretary S Krishnan said on Thursday.

The government proposed changes to IT rules on Wednesday, mandating the clear labelling of AI-generated content and increasing the accountability of large platforms, such as Facebook and YouTube, for verifying and flagging synthetic information to curb user harm from deepfakes and misinformation.

"All that we are asking for is to label the contentYou must put in a label which indicates whether a particular piece of content has been generated synthetically or not. We are not saying don't put it up, or don't do this and that. Whatever you're creating, it's fine. You just say it is synthetically generated. So that once it says it's synthetically generated, then people can make up their minds as to whether it is good, bad, or whatever," Krishnan said.

India's approach to artificial intelligence (AI) adoption prioritises innovation first, with regulation following only where necessary, he said, adding that the responsibility for implementing the new labelling requirement will rest jointly on users, AI service providers, and social media platforms.

Providers of computer resources or software used to create synthetic content must enable the creation of labels that are fairly prominent and cannot be deleted, Krishnan noted.

Enforcement action would apply only to unlawful content, "and that applies to any content, not just AI content".

The proposed amendments to IT rules provide a clear legal basis for labelling, traceability, and accountability related to synthetically-generated information.

Apart from clearly defining synthetically generated information, the draft amendment, on which comments from stakeholders have been sought by November 6, 2025, mandates labelling, visibility, and metadata embedding for synthetically generated or modified information to distinguish such content from authentic media.

The stricter rules would increase the accountability of significant social media intermediaries (those with 50 lakh or more registered users) in verifying and flagging synthetic information through reasonable and appropriate technical measures.