Centre rules out separate cyberbullying law, strengthens AI content safeguards

New Delhi: The Centre has said it is not proposing a separate law on cyberbullying, instead relying on existing provisions under the Information Technology Act and recently strengthened IT Rules to tackle online abuse, deepfakes and AI-generated harmful content.

Replying to an unstarred question in the Lok Sabha, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting minister of state for information and broadcasting and parliamentary affairs L. Murugan said the government’s objective is to ensure an “open, safe, trusted and accountable Internet”, particularly for women and children.

The minister said the Information Technology Act, 2000, together with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, provides a comprehensive framework to address unlawful and harmful online content.

Under the IT Rules, intermediaries, including social media platforms, are required to make reasonable efforts to prevent users from hosting or sharing content that is obscene, pornographic, invasive of privacy, harmful to children, or insulting and harassing on the basis of gender. Platforms that fail to meet these due diligence obligations risk losing safe harbour protection under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act and may face legal action.

The government also highlighted amendments notified on February 10, 2026, which strengthened the regulatory framework to address synthetically generated information, including deepfakes and other AI-generated content.

Under the revised rules, intermediaries and significant social media platforms must deploy reasonable technical measures to prevent the creation and dissemination of unlawful AI-generated content, including material involving impersonation, obscenity, misinformation or content harmful to children. Platforms are also required to report offences to the appropriate authorities where mandated by law.

The minister said citizens can report cyber offences through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, which includes anonymous reporting for crimes against women and children. The portal also features a “Report and Check Suspect” module that enables users to report suspicious websites, WhatsApp numbers, Telegram handles, phone numbers, email addresses, SMS headers, deepfakes and social media URLs.

To strengthen enforcement, the government has released Rs 132.93 crore under the Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children (CCPWC) Scheme to states and Union Territories for cyber forensic laboratories, recruitment of cyber consultants and training programmes.

According to the government, cyber forensic-cum-training laboratories have been commissioned in 33 states and Union Territories, while more than 24,600 law enforcement personnel, judicial officers and public prosecutors have received training in cybercrime investigation, digital forensics and cyber awareness.

The Ministry of Home Affairs’ Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) has also provided cyber hygiene training to more than two lakh NCC, NSS and NYKS students. It has released a Handbook for Adolescents/Students and a Cyber Security Handbook for Mahila Suraksha to improve awareness among students and women.

The government also said it continues to implement the Information Security Education and Awareness (ISEA) project to build cybersecurity skills and promote cyber hygiene across the country.

The reply did not provide the year-wise or state-wise cyberbullying case data sought in the question, focusing instead on the existing legal framework, reporting mechanisms and awareness initiatives.