Editors Guild Seeks Review of Draft IT Rules on AI Citing Free-Speech Risks

Overview

• The Editors Guild of India, which issued a statement Saturday, urged the government to review or recall the March 30 draft and open a wider consultation.
• The draft makes ministry advisories binding under Rule 3(4), which the Guild says could strip platforms of safe-harbour protections under Section 79 for non‑compliance.
• Changes to Rule 14 expand the Inter‑Departmental Committee’s remit to handle any “matter,” a vague term the Guild says erases due‑process limits.
• MeitY’s 2026 IT Amendments require labels and embedded metadata on AI‑made content, checks by major platforms on user claims, and much shorter deadlines, including three hours for official notices and two hours for certain sensitive content.
• The government says the changes target deepfakes and other synthetic media that can impersonate people or forge records.