Govt to ensure internet remains free from obscene content, deepfakes; intermediaries liable if fail to comply

New Delhi: The government on Wednesday said it is committed to ensure that the Internet in India is free from any form of unlawful content or information, particularly vulgar and obscene content, as such content proliferates on various social media platforms.

According to Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs, Dr L. Murugan, Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act) and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules) together provide a comprehensive framework to deal with unlawful and harmful content in the digital space and impose clear obligations on intermediaries to ensure accountability.

In case of failure of the intermediaries to observe the legal obligations as provided in the IT Rules, 2021, they lose their exemption from third party information provided under section 79 of the IT Act. They are liable for consequential action or prosecution as provided under any extant law, the minister said in a written reply to a question asked by Prabhakar Reddy Vemireddy in the Lok Sabha.

On February 10, 2026, the government strengthened the regulatory framework by amending the IT Rules to address harms arising from synthetically generated information (SGI), including deepfakes and AI-generated content.

As per the amendments, intermediaries and large social media platforms are required to deploy reasonable technical measures to prevent the creation and dissemination of unlawful AI-generated content, including content that is obscene, misleading, impersonating individuals, or harmful to children.

“Platforms are also obligated to report to appropriate authorities about the related offences under laws that mandates reporting such as Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, or the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012,” the minister noted.

The ‘National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal’ (NCRP) has been launched, as a part of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), to enable public to report incidents pertaining to all types of cybercrimes.

NCRP includes provisions for reporting certain categories of cyber offences against women and children in an anonymous manner. Under the “Report Women/Child Related Crime” module, complainants may choose the “Report Anonymously” option, which allows submission of complaints without disclosure of personal identity details.

The government also released financial assistance to the tune of Rs 132.93 crore under the ‘Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children (CCPWC)’ Scheme, to the States/UTs for their capacity building such as setting up of cyber forensic-cum-training laboratories, hiring of junior cyber consultants and training of LEAs’ personnel, public prosecutors and judicial officers.

Cyber forensic-cum-training laboratories have been commissioned in 33 States/UTs and more than 24,600 LEA personnel, judicial officers and prosecutors have been provided training on cybercrime awareness, investigation, forensics etc.

IANS