The Indian government has proposed a new rule that would require social media platforms to display labels on AI-generated content continuously, a shift from the existing proposal to tweak the Information Technology Rules 2021.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) has issued a notice proposing an amendment to Rule 3(3)(a)(ii) of the IT Rules, which would require the continuous display of labels for synthetically generated information throughout the duration of the content in visual display.
The change is intended to ensure that the label does not disappear after the initial few seconds of a video or visual display, and the ministry has invited feedback and comments on the amendment till May 7.
The proposal is part of a broader set of obligations for social media intermediaries with respect to synthetically generated content (SGI), which was introduced in February.
The SGI rules also introduced a three-hour deadline for platforms to take down AI-generated or deepfake content once flagged by the government or ordered by a court.
The government had first proposed the SGI framework in draft amendments released in October 2025, which included a far more prescriptive labelling requirement.
However, this provision drew pushback from industry bodies and platforms, which argued that fixed-size labels would be impractical across formats and could disrupt user experience.
The ministry has also extended the deadline for public comments on its March 30 draft amendments to the IT Rules, requiring social media platforms to comply with government advisories and bringing user-generated news and current affairs content under the same regulatory framework as publishers, to May 7.
