To ensure compliance with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2026 by the February 20, 2026 deadline, digital platforms could utilise the following checklist.

I. Content Moderation & Takedown Timelines

Platforms must establish 24/7 rapid response teams to meet drastically shortened legal windows.

• 3-Hour Takedown: Remove or disable access to content within 3 hours of receiving a court order or an order from an authorized government officer.
• 2-Hour Emergency Removal: Act within 2 hours for sensitive violations, specifically non-consensual deepfake nudity or intimate imagery.
• 7-Day Grievance Acknowledgement: Acknowledge user complaints within 7 days, reduced from the previous 15-day requirement.
• 36-Hour Grievance Resolution: Resolve specific urgent grievances (like identity theft or privacy violations) within 36 hours.

II. Synthetically Generated Information (SGI) Management

If your platform enables the creation, modification, or hosting of AI-generated content, you must implement these technical safeguards:

• Automated Prohibitions: Deploy tools to actively block the creation or dissemination of SGI involving child sexual abuse material (CSAM), non-consensual intimate imagery, false electronic records, or instructions for explosives/arms.
• Mandatory Labelling:
  • Visuals: Apply clear, prominent labels on all synthetic images and videos.
  • Audio: Include a prominently prefixed audio disclosure for synthetic sound.
• Metadata & Traceability: Embed permanent metadata and a unique identifier into every SGI file to trace its origin to your computer resource.
• Anti-Tampering Measures: Ensure that labels and metadata cannot be removed, modified, or suppressed by users.

III. Additional Duties for Significant Social Media Intermediaries (SSMIs)

Large platforms (over 5 million users) must update their upload workflows:

• User Declaration: Integrate a mandatory prompt requiring users to declare if their content is synthetically generated before uploading.
• Technical Verification: Deploy automated tools to verify the accuracy of user declarations, ensuring content isn’t published without proper labels.
• Safe Harbour Maintenance: Note that “willful blindness” or failure to act on known SGI can lead to the loss of Section 79 Safe Harbour protection.

IV. Legal & User Awareness Updates

• Quarterly Notifications: Inform users at least once every three months about your privacy policy and the consequences of violating rules (e.g., account termination).
• Language Requirements: Provide these notifications in English or any language specified in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.
• Updated Legal References: Ensure all terms of service and internal manuals replace references to the “Indian Penal Code” with the “Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023”.
• Mandatory Reporting: Establish protocols to report SGI-related offences (especially POCSO violations) to the appropriate authorities.

Authored By
Vijay Pal Dalmia, Advocate
Supreme Court of India & Delhi High Court

Email id: [email protected]
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