The New Digital Frontier: Governing Deepfakes And Synthetically Generated Content Under New IT Rules

The New Digital Frontier: Governing Deepfakes and Synthetically Generated Content Under New IT Rules

The rapid expansion of digital technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI) systems capable of producing highly realistic audio, video, and image-based content, has created new challenges for online safety, authenticity, and public trust. These developments prompted the Government of India to amend and expand the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, to directly address the creation, circulation, and misuse of synthetically generated, manipulated, and fabricated information, and ensure that the digital space remains safe, transparent, and governed by responsible practices.