Update: Overview Of The IT Intermediary Amendment Rules, 2026

On February 10, 2026, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology ("MeitY") notified the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2026 ("2026 Amendment Rules"), further amending the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 ("IT Rules 2021"). The 2026 Amendment Rules shall come into force from February 20, 2026, onwards.

The 2026 Amendment Rules have been introduced by MeitY's as a response to the rapid increase in deepfakes and other AI-created or AI-modified content, and to address the concerns around impersonation, non-consensual intimate imagery, misinformation and fraud. In order to address this concern, the 2026 Amendment Rules have incorporated a regulatory framework governing synthetically generated information ("SGI"), impose additional due diligence obligations on intermediaries that enable or facilitate such content, and significantly