Ashwini Vaishnaw Calls for Fair Revenue Sharing by Social Media Platforms, Proposes Strict Deepfake Labelling Rules

Government Pushes for Fair Revenue Distribution in Digital Ecosystem​

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday said social media platforms must ensure fair revenue sharing with individuals and organizations that create content, including journalists, traditional media houses, influencers, professors, researchers, and creators in remote regions.

Speaking on the growing digital content economy, Vaishnaw emphasized that those generating content on digital platforms deserve a rightful share of the revenue earned from it. He noted that news professionals, academics disseminating research, influencers, and grassroots creators all contribute significantly to the value ecosystem of social media platforms.

According to him, the principle of equitable revenue distribution must be extended across the entire digital ecosystem. He stated that platforms benefit substantially from the content uploaded by individuals and institutions, and therefore creators should receive a fair portion of the earnings generated through their work.

Vaishnaw added that ensuring fairness in revenue allocation would strengthen India’s digital content economy and promote a more balanced and sustainable growth model.

Proposed IT Rule Amendments Target Deepfakes and AI-Generated Content​

His remarks come amid tighter regulatory oversight of digital platforms to enhance accountability and transparency.

In a separate development, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology proposed fresh amendments to the IT Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code Rules, 2021. The draft amendments aim to address the rising threat of deepfakes and AI-generated misinformation.

Under the proposed rules, social media platforms will be required to clearly label synthetically generated content and embed permanent metadata or identifiers within such material.

Major social media intermediaries with more than five million registered users in India, including Facebook, YouTube, and Snapchat, will be required to prominently mark AI-generated content.

The identifier must cover at least 10 percent of the visual display in videos or images, or the first 10 percent of the duration in audio content. The embedded metadata must not be alterable, suppressed, or removed.

If a platform knowingly permits unlabelled or falsely declared AI-generated content, it will be treated as a failure to exercise due diligence under the IT Act, according to the draft provisions.