Keywords
Criminal Liability
Cybercrimes
Deepfakes
Intermediary Liability
Privacy
Synthetic Media
How to Cite
Abstract
The fast-paced technological progress in the realm of artificial intelligence and generative technologies has changed the way content is being created and edited in the digital sphere. One of the major outcomes of such technological advancement is the appearance of deepfakes – technology capable of manipulating a person's face, voice, facial expressions or behaviour to produce fictional audio-visual content. While there is certainly a place for synthetic media in the realms of entertainment, educational purposes, and accessibility, as well as within creative industries, its misuse has led to the emergence of serious legal challenges related to identity theft, fraud, sexual exploitation, defamation, violation of privacy, damage to reputation and disinformation. Traditionally, in India, such actions were punished using technology-neutral laws of the Information Technology Act 2000, the Indian Penal Code and more recently the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, along with intermediary regulation according to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021, Significant changes in the regulatory framework have happened due to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2026 regulating synthetically generated information and imposing new due diligence responsibilities on intermediaries. However, challenges persist on the aspects of attribution, mens rea, evidential reliability, liability of intermediaries, enforcement across borders and the difference between harmful misrepresentations and constitutionally protected speech. In this paper, the response to crimes by deepfake technology in India’s evolving law will be assessed critically and a framework proposed, which includes technology neutral criminal offenses together with procedural and evidential procedures and governance of the platforms instead of developing an overly expansive standalone offense.References
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Copyright (c) 2026 Bhagavathy V (Author)