Question · India IT Rules (SGI)
What is synthetically generated information under India's IT Rules?
India amended its intermediary rules rather than passing an AI act: synthetically generated audio, visual and audio-visual content must carry a prominent label and embedded provenance, and takedown windows were shortened to as little as two hours.
01 / The answer
The short answer
It is audio, visual or audio-visual content created or altered by a computer resource so that it appears real and depicts a person or event in a way that is, or is likely to be seen as, indistinguishable from a real person or event (rule 2(1)(wa)). Text alone is not covered, and routine good-faith editing, document preparation and accessibility uses are excluded. Covered content must carry a prominent visible label, or a prefixed audio disclosure, plus permanent metadata with a unique identifier where technically feasible. The rules set no minimum label size.
02 / The rule
What India IT Rules (SGI) requires
India amended its intermediary rules rather than passing an AI act: synthetically generated audio, visual and audio-visual content must carry a prominent label and embedded provenance, and takedown windows were shortened to as little as two hours. There is no fine; an intermediary that fails the rules loses its safe-harbour immunity for user content.
- 01Services that can create or share synthetic content must label it prominently; for audio, a prominently prefixed disclosure. No label size is set.
- 02Embed permanent metadata or other provenance with a unique identifier where technically feasible, and not enable removal of the label or metadata.
- 03Significant social media intermediaries must collect each user's declaration on whether content is synthetic, verify it with technical measures, and label confirmed synthetic content.
- 04Remove content within 3 hours of a court order or reasoned government intimation.
03 / Records
Records to keep
- 01Label specifications per surface and format, with prominence rationale
- 02Provenance metadata standard and embedding test results
- 03User declaration records and verification results
- 04Takedown notice log with class, receipt time and removal time
Optional evidence · where Planisphere fits
Keep a record anyone can check
When your team meets a duty, Planisphere can seal the event it reports as a receipt.
A disclosure shown, a review signed, a model change approved: the event your system reports.
The event becomes a sealed receipt, dated and attributed to whoever is signed in.
Paste the receipt into Verify. No account or key.
A record supports your compliance evidence process. It is not a legal finding or a certification. Systems that call Planisphere's gate API can also hold or refuse an action before it runs.
SOURCES
Go back to the source
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
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