The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
("MeitY") has released the draft
amendment to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines
and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021
("Intermediary Rules"), seeking to
regulate the creation and dissemination of 'synthetically
generated information', including AI-generated,
algorithmically generated and deepfake content
("Proposed Amendment"). The Proposed
Amendment marks a significant development as it reflects
India's first definitive step towards regulating generative AI
tools and synthetic media under the framework of the Information
Technology Act, 2000 ("IT Act").
The Proposed Amendment has been issued under the rule-making
powers conferred by Section 87(2)(z) and (zg) of the IT Act, read
with Section 79, which provides conditional safe harbour protection
to intermediaries. The accompanying Explanatory Note (also released
by MeitY) clarifies that the Proposed Amendment is intended to
counter the