AI Misinformation Threatens Trust and Children, Responsibility Must Accompany Free Speech: Vaishnaw

India’s IT Minister Calls for Responsible AI Speech to Combat Deepfakes and Misinformation

Freedom of speech in the artificial intelligence era must be paired with responsibility, according to Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who warned that deepfakes and misinformation are undermining societal foundations. Speaking at a satellite event of the AI Impact Summit 2026 titled “Rewarding our Creative Future in the age of AI,” Vaishnaw highlighted growing concerns about unregulated digital content.

“Misinformation, disinformation and deepfakes are attacking the foundation of our society,” Vaishnaw said during a conversation with Charles Rivkin, CEO of the Motion Picture Association. “The foundation of our society is the trust between institutions that society has created over centuries.”

The minister identified family structures, social identities, and governance systems as crucial pillars holding society together, arguing that manipulated or synthetic content threatens these foundations. His comments come amid intensifying global debates around AI-generated media and cross-border streaming standards.

“Social media platforms, AI models, the creators — all of us will have to take the responsibility for making sure that the new technology is strengthening the trust rather than reducing it,” Vaishnaw emphasized.

For India’s technology minister, the challenge extends beyond content moderation. He framed it as a fundamental recalibration of free speech principles in an era when artificial intelligence can mass-produce highly convincing fake content.

“The construct of freedom of speech has to be with responsibility on the person who’s speaking,” he noted, adding that discussions with ministers from over 20 countries, including liberal democracies, suggest growing international consensus that existing free speech frameworks must evolve to address AI’s amplification capabilities.

Child protection emerged as a particularly critical concern during the discussion. Vaishnaw called for “very strict legal as well as technical measures” to prevent AI misuse involving minors, describing this as “non-negotiable for the entire human society.” His comments suggest that voluntary industry codes alone may be insufficient, and stronger regulatory guardrails might be necessary.

The minister advocated for “techno-legal solutions” that combine regulatory frameworks with built-in technical safeguards within AI systems, implying that simple regulation would not suffice for such a rapidly evolving technological landscape.

Cultural sensitivity in digital content delivery was another focal point of the discussion. Vaishnaw cautioned international streaming platforms about maintaining awareness of local contexts.

“In the digital world, there are no physical boundaries. In that scenario, it is very easy for OTT platforms to kind of forget the cultural context,” he said. “What is normal in one society may not be normal in another society.”

Responding to these concerns, MPA’s Rivkin distinguished between user-generated content and professionally produced studio programming, which undergoes internal review and classification. He emphasized that regulated studio content should not be equated with unmoderated user uploads.

“There’s a big difference between user-generated content, something that’s uploaded and unregulated and uncontrolled, and curated content where we’ve already put a tremendous amount of thought into what’s being seen,” Rivkin explained, adding that major studios take cultural sensitivities seriously, particularly in international markets.

Beyond regulatory concerns, the conversation explored AI’s potential impact on the creative economy. Vaishnaw reaffirmed India’s commitment to intellectual property protection and creator rights in the AI era.

“We as a country believe in IP rights. We believe in the creators and the value that the creators have brought in through their content and storytelling,” he stated, while acknowledging the complex challenges at the intersection of AI and copyright law.

The minister emphasized that AI should complement rather than dilute human creativity, which he described as “the most important thing that we have in our entire civilization.”

Vaishnaw also highlighted India’s initiatives to become a hub for AI-enabled content creation, including the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies and plans to establish content creator labs across thousands of educational institutions to build a future-ready talent pipeline.

As artificial intelligence continues to transform storytelling, distribution, and digital expression, the minister’s message emphasized balancing innovation with responsibility. In the rapidly evolving AI landscape, safeguarding institutional trust and protecting vulnerable populations will be as crucial as advancing technological capabilities.