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In forceBinding · Regulation / implementing rule

Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2026

Record IN-03 · G.S.R. 120(E)

Issued by
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India
Jurisdiction
India
Level · region
National · South & Southeast Asia
Published / adopted
2026-02-10
In force
2026-02-20
Language
English, Hindi
Official identifier
G.S.R. 120(E)

Summary

Binding amendment to India's intermediary rules on 'synthetically generated information' (SGI): content artificially or algorithmically created or altered so that it appears real and depicts a person or event as indistinguishable from reality. Intermediaries offering SGI tools must use technical measures to block unlawful SGI, such as child sexual abuse material, non-consensual intimate imagery or deceptive depictions of real people or events, and must prominently label other SGI and embed permanent metadata or a unique identifier where feasible. Significant social media intermediaries must obtain and verify user declarations of SGI and label it.

Safety topics

deepfakes & synthetic mediatransparency & labellingaccountability & liabilitychild safety

Status notes

G.S.R. 120(E) of 10 February 2026 amends the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (G.S.R. 139(E) of 25 February 2021); the amendment came into force on 20 February 2026. Besides the SGI provisions, it clarifies that removing or disabling access to information, including SGI, in compliance with the rules does not breach the safe-harbour conditions of section 79(2) of the IT Act; requires intermediaries to inform users at least every three months of the consequences of non-compliance, and those offering SGI tools to warn users of penalties for misuse; and shortens deadlines: removal on a court order or a government authority's reasoned intimation from 36 to 3 hours (rule 3(1)(d) as substituted by G.S.R. 775(E) of 22 October 2025, in force from 15 November 2025), removal of intimate or impersonating imagery on complaint from 24 to 2 hours, grievance resolution from 15 to 7 days, and certain removal requests from 72 to 36 hours. A draft of the SGI amendment was published for consultation on 22 October 2025. The rules follow MeitY's non-binding AI advisories to intermediaries of 1 March 2024, revised on 15 March 2024 to drop a prior-approval requirement for under-tested models. On 30 March 2026 MeitY released a further draft amendment to the IT Rules, open for comment until 16 April 2026, under which intermediaries would have to comply with MeitY's clarifications, advisories, orders, directions, standard operating procedures and guidelines on implementing the rules as part of their due diligence.

Sources

Open the official source https://www.meity.gov.in/static/uploads/2026/02/550681ab908f8afb135b0ad42816a1c9.pdf

Local copy

Archived. Last attempt 2026-10-18 03:22:19 UTC

Official source (third-party copy, not published) archive/IN-03/2026-10-16/official.pdf
Retrieved 2026-10-16 11:39:10 UTC
SHA-256 7881536e07458e616f6c91b841814cc95b7084edc7ded8a0897a4beaec701351

Verification

A
The instrument's own official text, or an official register, was stored and confirms the title, date and status. checked 2026-10-18 · official-url-fetched
Recheck of 18 Oct 2026. Stored: MeitY's consolidated text of the IT Rules 2021 'updated as on 10.02.2026' (meity.gov.in, copy of 16 Oct 2026; the archiver's retry on 18 Oct 2026 failed with a DNS error). Its footnotes attribute to G.S.R. 120(E) dated 10.02.2026 the SGI definition (rule 2(1)(wa)), rules 2(1A) and 2(1B), the user-information duties (rule 3(1)(c) to (cb)), the SGI due diligence (rule 3(3)), the SSMI declarations (rule 4(1A)) and the 3-hour, 2-hour, 7-day and 36-hour deadlines, and to G.S.R. 775(E) of 22.10.2025 (w.e.f. 15.11.2025) the substituted rule 3(1)(d). The amendment notification itself was not found on an official host. Its short title and its commencement clause ('They shall come into force on February 20, 2026', Notification No. G.S.R. 120(E)) are quoted from TeamLease RegTech's reproduction of the notification text (a commercial compliance database, secondary). The draft amendment of 30 March 2026 rests on a Khaitan & Co client note of 8 April 2026 (secondary). The consultation draft of 22 October 2025 and the March 2024 advisories rest on version 1's law-firm sources and on no stored file.
Second check: Independent check by Claude Code (claude-sonnet-5-5), 2026-10-18: 7 field(s) supported.

History

  1. 2026-10-18notes: A draft amendment was published for consultation on 22 Oct 2025. The final rules → G.S.R. 120(E) of 10 February 2026 amends the Information Technology (Intermediar — rewritten: process remarks ('according to multiple law-firm trackers', 'the fetched consolidated text does not itself state', 'no primary copy could be fetched', 'Not verified from an official source') moved to verification.note; the amendment's other changes and the G.S.R. 775(E) substitution of rule 3(1)(d) added from the stored consolidated text; the draft amendment of 30 March 2026 described from the stored Khaitan & Co note; the claims that it would 'adjust SGI labelling' and was still a draft in July 2026 dropped (no stored file shows them)2026-10-18-recheck-south-asia-1 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)
  2. 2026-10-18summary: Binding amendment to India's intermediary rules for AI-generated content. It def → Binding amendment to India's intermediary rules on 'synthetically generated info — the published summary had 721 characters, above the 700 limit; shortened to the SGI provisions, with the deadlines moved to notes2026-10-18-recheck-south-asia-1 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)
  3. 2026-10-18official_identifier: G.S.R. 120(E), dated 10 February 2026 (amending the IT Rules 2021, G.S.R. 139(E) → G.S.R. 120(E) — reduced to the citable number G.S.R. 120(E); the date and the description of what it amends moved to notes2026-10-18-recheck-south-asia-1 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)

Related records

India AI Governance Guidelines India · Published (non-binding, current)

Citation

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India. Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2026 [G.S.R. 120(E)]. 2026-02-10. https://www.meity.gov.in/static/uploads/2026/02/550681ab908f8afb135b0ad42816a1c9.pdf. Status: In force; verified 2026-10-18 (level A). Local copy archive/IN-03/2026-10-16/official.pdf retrieved 2026-10-16 11:39:10 UTC, SHA-256 7881536e07458e616f6c91b841814cc95b7084edc7ded8a0897a4beaec701351. Every AI Policy Ever, version 1.18 (snapshot 2026-10-18), record IN-03.

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