Can we police AI fakes in the age of whizzy tech?

Rules have been tightened to crack down on AI generated deepfakes and stamp out a rising menace on social media. Ensuring their success, however, may prove to be quite a challenge

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In the absence of a dedicated law to police the abuse of fast-evolving AI and Generative AI—systems that can impersonate humans, fabricate reality and operate on their own—India’s government had initially opted for calibrated restraint.

Its AI Governance Guidelines and Digital Personal Data Protection Act were designed as ‘techno-legal’ frameworks to test corporate compliance, encourage innovation and nudge companies to embed safety into their systems. That phase seems to be giving way to a firmer stance. Under the amended IT Rules of 2026, online platforms must remove non-consensual sexual imagery (deepfakes included) within two hours of a complaint’s receipt. Other unlawful content must go within three hours of a government or court order. AI-generated content must be clearly labelled. Platforms that offer AI tools must prevent the creation or spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), explosives-related content and fraudulent deepfakes. User complaints must be resolved within seven days.