IT Minister Vaishnaw Warns Deepfakes Threaten Democracy

India’s information technology (IT) minister has warned that fake news and AI-generated deepfakes are becoming a “serious threat” to the country’s democracy, and pointed to tighter online content rules that require faster takedowns and new labelling obligations for synthetic media.

Addressing the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Minister of Information and Broadcasting and Minister of Communications and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw said parts of the social-media ecosystem “do not wish to follow the Constitution of India or comply with laws enacted by Parliament,” calling the rise of misinformation and deepfakes on digital platforms “a very serious matter” that demands strict action.

Vaishnaw told lawmakers that recent changes to India’s Information Technology Rules, 2021, now oblige intermediaries such as social-media platforms to remove or disable access to unlawful content within 36 hours of receiving “actual knowledge” through a court order or a formal notice from a senior government or police official.

He described the tighter timelines as part of a broader effort to give the legal framework “more teeth” against fake news and online harms.

He added that the government has already published draft amendments to the IT rules to deal specifically with AI-generated or “synthetically generated” information, including deepfake audio and video.

Those proposals, released in October, would require major platforms and AI tools to label synthetic content clearly, embed permanent metadata identifiers and obtain user declarations on whether uploads are AI-generated, with consultations on the draft still under way.

“The issues concerning fake news and social media involve a delicate balance between freedom of speech and the protection of our democracy, and the government is working with full sensitivity to this balance,” Vaishnaw said.

He also thanked a parliamentary standing committee on communications and IT for a recent report recommending a clearer legal definition of fake news, stronger penalties, better coordination on fact-checking and more transparent platform algorithms.

The minister said the Digital India program under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “democratized technology” and given every citizen a voice online, but stressed that government, states and civil society now share responsibility for ensuring that trust in institutions is not undermined by false narratives.