Centre tightens social media rules on CSAM and deepfake content

MUMBAI: The internet may move at lightning speed, but the government wants harmful content to disappear even faster. Reiterating its push for stricter online safety, the Centre has said social media platforms must comply with tighter timelines for removing child sexual abuse material (CSAM), deepfakes and other unlawful content, warning that failure to do so could cost intermediaries their legal safe harbour protections.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha on 22 July, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Jitin Prasada said the government had taken serious note of reports alleging that advertisements linked to CSAM had appeared on social media platforms. The ministry has sought a detailed report from the concerned intermediary, while the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has issued notices to the platforms involved.

The minister said the Information Technology Act, 2000, along with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, provides the legal framework for tackling unlawful online content, including child sexual abuse material, obscene content and privacy violations.

Under recently amended IT Rules, intermediaries must now remove unlawful content within three hours of receiving a court order or a reasoned direction from the appropriate government or its agency—a significant tightening from the earlier 36-hour deadline.

The rules are even stricter for intimate content. Platforms are required to remove nudity, sexually explicit material, morphed intimate images and similar sensitive content within two hours of receiving a complaint from the affected person or someone acting on their behalf.

The revised framework also sharpens the focus on AI-generated content and deepfakes. Social media intermediaries are now required to label permissible AI-generated content with traceable metadata, improve user awareness about unlawful synthetic media and deploy technical measures to prevent the spread of content that violates Indian law.

According to the government, the updated rules explicitly cover child sexual exploitation material, non-consensual intimate imagery, impersonation and other harmful AI-generated content, requiring platforms to detect and remove such material promptly.

Significant social media intermediaries must also deploy reasonable technical measures to proactively identify content depicting rape, child sexual abuse or material identical to content that has previously been removed. Messaging platforms categorised as significant social media intermediaries may also be required, under specified legal conditions, to enable identification of the first originator of information in cases involving serious offences, including CSAM.

The ministry reminded platforms that non-compliance with their due diligence obligations under the IT Rules could result in the loss of safe harbour protection under Section 79 of the IT Act, exposing them to legal action under applicable laws.

The government also highlighted a series of recent advisories aimed at strengthening online safety. A 29 December 2025 advisory directed intermediaries to reinforce content moderation against obscene and unlawful material, while another issued on 16 March 2026 focused on abusive and misleading AI-generated content. In addition, the Centre has released a Standard Operating Procedure to curb the online circulation of non-consensual intimate imagery, setting out responsibilities for victims, intermediaries and law enforcement agencies.

The latest response signals that the government’s regulatory spotlight is widening beyond traditional harmful content to include AI-powered manipulation and synthetic media, as policymakers seek to hold digital platforms to stricter standards of accountability in an increasingly complex online ecosystem.