The IT Ministry advises social media platforms to remove “manipulated” content

The order comes ahead of the October 10 protest planned by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and also follows an outcry by Telugu film industry stars over a deepfake video that went viral this week. File. | Photo credit: Reuters

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on Thursday (8 October 2026) urged social media platforms to curb “manipulated or out-of-context content” beyond AI-generated deepfakes, which are already liable for takedown notices under amendments to the Information Technology (Liability of Intermediaries and Digital Media Code of Ethics) Rules, which were passed this year. The recommendation was first reported by the tech policy news portal MediaNama.

“Such content, particularly when presented as current or authentic information, may cause public confusion, cause concern, disturb public order and public tranquility, and contribute to law and order concerns,” the advisory said. The order comes ahead of the October 10 protest planned by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and also follows an outcry by Telugu film industry stars over a deepfake video that went viral this week.

While the IT Rules 2021 so far require social media platforms to require users to be able to tag AI-generated images, Thursday’s advisory goes further, urging them to “exercise increased care regarding information disseminated on their platforms that is false, misleading, manipulated or deliberately presented with photos and videos presented out of context,” and for posts to be presented as old, archived with current events in mind.

In particular, the notice warns social media platforms in its subject matter to pay attention to content that could “affect public order”. It comes days before a protest on Saturday seeking the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The platforms were warned to “prioritize reports/complaints received from authorized government agencies”. The Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking Public Access to Information) Rules 2009 stipulates that ministries and departments, 65 in total, forward notices to the IT Ministry to stop dissemination of online content.

These rules were issued under Section 69(A) of the IT Act, but many takedowns, particularly on Meta’s Instagram and Facebook, are done under Section 79(3)(b). The subsection allows authorized agencies to notify social media platforms that they believe certain content is illegal, but does not oblige them to remove posts – however, since February’s IT Rules, the 2021 amendment has reduced the compliance period to 1-3 hours, specifically Meta has decided to automatically remove posts linked to the channel, drawing criticism from digital rights groups.

Published – 9 Oct 2026 0:25 AM IST