India Tightens Social Media AI Content Controls

India on Feb. 20, 2026, enacts tightened rules for AI-generated social media content, cutting platform takedown timelines from 36 hours to three hours and requiring permanent labels and automated moderation. The rules aim to curb disinformation and sexualised or forged media but rights groups warn the compressed deadlines and broad definitions risk automated censorship and erosion of digital freedoms.