Label all AI media: Draft rules to fight deepfakes

In its official notice released, Meity said the amendments were prompted by growing concerns over AI misuse. “With the increasing availability of generative AI tools and the resulting proliferation of synthetically generated information (commonly known as deepfakes), the potential for misuse of such technologies to cause user harm, spread misinformation, manipulate elections, or impersonate individuals has grown significantly,” the ministry stated.

It added: “Recognising these risks, and following extensive public discussions and parliamentary deliberations, MeitY has prepared the present draft amendments.”

Under the draft framework, companies offering AI generation tools must embed permanent visible watermarks or metadata identifiers on all synthetic content. For images and videos, labels must cover at least 10% of the display area, while audio content must carry identifiers during the first 10% of playback duration.