The government on Wednesday clarified that content created with the help of artificial intelligence for educational purposes, bringing clarity or making technical changes without misrepresentation need not be labelled as synthetically generated.

The clarification came in the form of FAQs a day after the government tightened rules for social media platforms such as YouTube and X, mandating the takedown of unlawful content within three hours, and requiring clear labelling of all AI-generated and synthetic content.

In a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs), the Ministry of Electronics and IT has explained that content created in good faith, like education and training materials, presentations, reducing file size for faster upload, publishing notice, etc., with the use of artificial intelligence, will not be considered as synthetically generated content (SGI).

"Not every AI-assisted creation or editing qualifies as SGI. Content is treated as SGI only when it is artificially or algorithmically created or altered in a way that it appears real or authentic or true and is likely to be indistinguishable from a real person or real-world event," it said.

Elaborating further, it said that routine or good faith actions such as editing, formatting, enhancement, technical correction, colour adjustment, noise reduction, transcription, or compression shall not be treated as SGI, provided such actions do not materially alter, distort, or misrepresent the substance, context or meaning of the underlying content.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued a gazette notification, amending the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. The new rules will come into force on February 20, 2026.

The FAQ on the new rules explained that use of technology to remove background noise in an audio recording, transcribing an audio or video interview into text stabilising a shaky video or correcting colour balance will not be considered SGI.

The IT ministry has clarified that routine or good-faith creation or preparation, formatting, designing documents, presentations, PDF files, educational or training materials, or research outputs will not be treated as SGI as long as it does not result in creation of false documents or false electronic records.

However, if AI tools are used to generate fake certificates, fake official letters, forged IDs or fabricated electronic records, such content will not fall under these exclusions and may be treated as unlawful SGI or false records.

The FAQ also clarified that the use of computer resources solely for improving accessibility, clarity, quality, translation, description, searchability, or discoverability shall not be treated as SGI, provided the process does not generate or alter or manipulate any material part of the underlying content.

It said that the use of AI for adding subtitles to videos, translation of a speech or video into another language without manipulating content, auto-generated summaries or tags for improving search, audio description for visually impaired users or improving clarity by reducing echo or distortion will be exempted from the SGI definition.

The new rules that have come in response to the growing misuse of artificial intelligence to create and circulate obscene, deceptive and fake content on social media platforms require embedding of permanent metadata or identifier with AI content and ban content considered illegal in the eyes of law, as well as shorten user grievance redressal timelines.

In the run-up to the rules, authorities had flagged a rise in AI-generated deepfakes, non-consensual intimate imagery and misleading videos that impersonate individuals or fabricate real-world events, often spreading rapidly online.

The amended IT rules aim to curb such abuse by requiring faster takedowns, mandatory labelling of AI-generated content and stronger accountability from platforms to prevent the promotion and amplification of unlawful synthetic material. It places the onus on both social media platforms and AI tools.

Published on February 12, 2026