Confronted with this escalating crisis, the Indian government has responded with unprecedented speed. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) introduced a series of landmark amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. The most significant of these came into effect on February 20, 2026, marking India's first comprehensive regulatory framework specifically targeting synthetic digital manipulation at scale.
Actress Vidya Balan, too, was compelled to address the spread of an AI-generated video featuring her likeness. In a public statement, she clarified, "There are multiple videos currently circulating on social media and WhatsApp, which appear to feature me. However, I want to clarify that the videos are AI-generated and inauthentic," urging everyone to verify information before sharing. desifakes ai generated
Just months later, the government doubled down. In February 2026, a new amendment came into force shifting intermediaries from a reactive "notice-and-takedown" model to a proactive oversight regime. Intermediaries now have a suo motu duty to act on unlawful synthetic content, and SSMIs (platforms with over 50 lakh users) must implement technical safeguards. Actress Vidya Balan, too, was compelled to address
Harms and societal impact
Naina is not alone. , created by Xhadow Media, crossed 100,000 followers in just 18 months, landing partnerships with AMD and Google. The economic model is staggering; virtual influencer Vrutika Patel makes approximately Rs 1.19 lakh per month from about 300 paid subscribers, sparking a fierce debate online: Are people paying for this? Just months later, the government doubled down
Through millions of iterations, the generator learns to trick the discriminator, resulting in media that is virtually indistinguishable from real footage to the human eye.
Confronted with this escalating crisis, the Indian government has responded with unprecedented speed. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) introduced a series of landmark amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. The most significant of these came into effect on February 20, 2026, marking India's first comprehensive regulatory framework specifically targeting synthetic digital manipulation at scale.
Actress Vidya Balan, too, was compelled to address the spread of an AI-generated video featuring her likeness. In a public statement, she clarified, "There are multiple videos currently circulating on social media and WhatsApp, which appear to feature me. However, I want to clarify that the videos are AI-generated and inauthentic," urging everyone to verify information before sharing.
Just months later, the government doubled down. In February 2026, a new amendment came into force shifting intermediaries from a reactive "notice-and-takedown" model to a proactive oversight regime. Intermediaries now have a suo motu duty to act on unlawful synthetic content, and SSMIs (platforms with over 50 lakh users) must implement technical safeguards.
Harms and societal impact
Naina is not alone. , created by Xhadow Media, crossed 100,000 followers in just 18 months, landing partnerships with AMD and Google. The economic model is staggering; virtual influencer Vrutika Patel makes approximately Rs 1.19 lakh per month from about 300 paid subscribers, sparking a fierce debate online: Are people paying for this?
Through millions of iterations, the generator learns to trick the discriminator, resulting in media that is virtually indistinguishable from real footage to the human eye.