Deepfakes need consent, platforms need checks: Vaishnaw flags new internet reality at Rising Bharat Summit

IT minister says platform-led content dissemination requires measures to safeguard institutions.

• Vaishnaw urges action on deepfakes, platform content regulation
• Revenue sharing with creators, media houses to be discussed
• India to boost AI, semiconductor, and railway sector reforms

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Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday called for measures to address deepfakes and platform-led content dissemination, and said revenue sharing with content creators and media houses must be discussed in a consultative manner.

Speaking at the News18 Rising Bharat Summit 2026, Vaishnaw also outlined plans to scale AI compute capacity, expand semiconductor production and pursue reforms in the Railways sector.

Ashwini Vaishnaw on deepfakes and platform regulation

Vaishnaw said the “nature of internet has substantially changed” and that “every content is disseminated through platforms.”

He said it is necessary to take measures “to ensure our social platforms like judiciary, legislature have to be protected.”

Referring to deepfakes, he said there is a “huge barrage of deepfakes where nobody’s consent is taken” and added that “that consent has to be taken.”

Revenue sharing for content creators and media houses

Vaishnaw said content creators and media houses invest significantly and that “it is very important that this investment is rewarded in a proper way.”

He said “practically every country is thinking of sharing revenue,” adding that currently revenue goes to platforms first. He said the revenue-sharing issue has to be undertaken “in a very consultative manner.”

AI transition and IT sector shift

Vaishnaw said India’s IT sector is transitioning “from coding to automated coding,” and that “the architecture is being designed by the IT companies.”

He said the government is providing the talent pipeline and that responsibility has to be taken by industry, central and state governments. “We will provide whatever support IT industry needs,” he said, adding that discussions are ongoing with IT leaders and that state governments have to take responsibility.

He described the AI shift as a “once in a generation transition.”

Scaling AI compute and data centre incentives

Vaishnaw said India has to “scale up our investment and compute to a significant high level.”

“We have to go near 200,000 (GPUs) or even beyond that,” he said, adding that a tax break for data centres will be important in this regard.

Semiconductor production and Micron plant

Vaishnaw said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will commence commercial production at the Micron plant on Wednesday. He said the plant will produce high bandwidth memory used in laptops and cameras.

He said three more plants are in pilot production. After Micron, two more will start commercial production, and a fourth will start commercial production at the end of the year.

He said the “entire talent shortfall in the semiconductor industry in the world will be met by India.”

Renewable energy grid and power mix

Vaishnaw said India’s grid has been rebuilt over the last decade and is designed for “ups and downs that comes with renewable energy.”

He said renewable energy accounts for 50 per cent of total power generation.

Railways capex utilisation and reforms

Vaishnaw said Railways has 94 per cent utilisation of capital expenditure. He said 52 reforms are planned, of which four have already been rolled out.

He said the reforms will focus on safety, maintenance and production.