AI misinformation threatens trust and children; responsibility must follow free speech: Vaishnaw

New Delhi: Freedom of speech in the age of artificial intelligence must be anchored in responsibility, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said at a satellite event of the AI Impact Summit 2026 titled Rewarding our Creative Future in the age of AI, warning that deepfakes, misinformation and unregulated digital content are eroding institutional trust and putting children at risk.

“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.”

He pointed to institutions such as family, social identities and governance structures as pillars that hold society together, arguing that the rapid spread of manipulated or synthetic content risks weakening that foundation.

“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,” he said.

The remarks come amid intensifying global debates around AI-generated media, cross-border streaming standards and the limits of digital speech. While the summit examined the broader economic and social impact of artificial intelligence, the discussion underscored a growing concern among policymakers that technological acceleration is outpacing accountability.

Vaishnaw indicated that India sees this as more than a content moderation challenge. Instead, he framed it as a recalibration of how freedom of speech operates in a world where AI can fabricate highly realistic content at scale.

“The construct of freedom of speech has to be with responsibility on the person who’s speaking,” he said.

Having interacted with ministers from more than 20 countries, including liberal democracies, Vaishnaw suggested there is increasing global recognition that existing free speech frameworks must evolve to reflect AI’s amplification power.

The minister was particularly firm about the protection of children in the AI era.

“This should be non-negotiable for the entire country. This should be non-negotiable for the entire human society,” Vaishnaw said, calling for “very strict legal as well as technical measures” to prevent misuse of AI-generated content involving minors.

He stressed that protecting children from deepfake exploitation and other forms of AI misuse cannot be left to voluntary codes alone, signalling that stronger guardrails may be necessary.

Vaishnaw suggested that addressing these concerns would require what he described as techno-legal solutions, combining regulatory frameworks with embedded technical safeguards within AI systems. Simple regulation, he implied, would not be sufficient for such a complex and rapidly evolving ecosystem.

The conversation also touched upon OTT platforms and the broader digital content landscape. Earlier in the discussion, Vaishnaw had cautioned that in a digital world without physical boundaries, platforms must remain mindful of local sensitivities.

“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 had said.

“What is normal in one society may not be normal in another society.”

Responding to concerns around digital content, Rivkin drew a distinction between user-generated content and curated studio programming. He noted that professionally produced films and series undergo internal review and classification processes.

In the United States, he said, content from major studios is curated and rated, supported by parental control mechanisms designed to inform families about what children may see. He argued that regulated studio content should not be equated with unmoderated 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 said, adding that international markets are central to the industry and that cultural sensitivities are taken seriously.

Beyond regulation, the discussion also explored AI’s transformative role in the creative economy. Vaishnaw reiterated India’s commitment to intellectual property protection and creator rights.

“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 said.

He acknowledged that the intersection of AI and copyright presents complex challenges, but maintained that human creativity must remain central.

“Human creativity is the most important thing that we have in our entire civilisation. We must protect it. There shouldn’t be a dilutive effect. There should be more of a complementing effect on human creativity.”

At the same time, Vaishnaw positioned India as a growing hub for AI-enabled content creation. Government initiatives such as the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies and the planned rollout of content creator labs across thousands of schools and colleges are aimed at building a future-ready talent pipeline.

As AI continues to reshape storytelling, distribution and digital expression, the minister’s message was clear: innovation must move in step with responsibility. In a high-velocity AI ecosystem, safeguarding trust and protecting children will be as critical as advancing technological capability.