Synthetically Generated Information rules: How agencies are navigating accountability era

India’s updated Synthetically Generated Information (SGI) rules under the amended IT Intermediary Guidelines are reshaping how digital platforms and agencies operate. By formally defining SGI (such as deepfakes and AI-generated media), mandating labelling, traceability and rapid takedown within three hours, and tightening compliance timelines, the rules shift accountability onto platforms, ad tech intermediaries and brands. Agencies must now restructure workflows, invest in monitoring and compliance tools, and embed regulatory checks into campaign processes, signaling a broader compliance-led digital ecosystem in India’s accountability era. Probir Roy Chowdhury, Partner at JSA Advocates and Solicitors, says the change does not eliminate immunity but makes it more conditional. “Inclusion of SGI under the IT Rules will not automatically eliminate the safe harbour protection, but it undeniably makes it more conditional and compliance heavy. Safe harbour in India is operationally linked to demonstrable due diligence.” Read more