TLDR: A Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs has issued a strong warning regarding the escalating threats posed by AI-driven deepfakes and ‘crime-as-a-service,’ urging the Indian government to implement tougher regulations for Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms and social media. The committee’s report, tabled on August 20, 2025, highlights significant gaps in existing cyber laws and recommends mandatory digital watermarking for all media, a central monitoring body for deepfakes, and a review panel for OTT content to protect citizens, especially minors, from sophisticated digital threats.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs has sounded a critical alarm over the burgeoning threats of Artificial Intelligence (AI) deepfakes and the sophisticated rise of ‘crime-as-a-service,’ advocating for immediate and stringent regulatory reforms across digital platforms. In its comprehensive report, tabled on August 20, 2025, the committee underscored the urgent need for stronger laws, real-time intelligence capabilities, and enhanced accountability from Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms and social media companies.
The report paints a sobering picture of India’s cyber threat landscape, where AI-driven frauds, deepfakes, telecom scams, and unregulated digital content are converging into a major national security challenge. The committee noted that deepfake-driven frauds are ‘nearly impossible to detect with conventional forensic tools,’ presenting a formidable challenge for both regulators and investigators.
Furthermore, the committee highlighted the alarming transformation of the underground economy by ‘Cybercrime-as-a-Service (CaaS),’ which mirrors legitimate Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) models. This evolution means that phishing kits, ransomware packages, AI-based deepfake generators, and even money-laundering services are now readily available for hire on the dark web, making sophisticated cybercrime accessible to a wider range of malicious actors.
To combat these evolving threats, the committee has put forth several key recommendations:
Mandatory Digital Watermarking: A crucial proposal is to mandate digital watermarks on all forms of media—photos, videos, and graphics—to establish their provenance and prevent malicious manipulation. This measure aims to enhance the traceability and authenticity of digital content.
Central Deepfake Monitoring: The committee urged CERT-In (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team) to assume the role of a central monitoring body, responsible for issuing timely deepfake alerts and coordinating responses.
OTT Content Regulation: For OTT platforms, the report recommends the establishment of a ‘Post Release Review Panel’ comprising experts. This panel would monitor flagged content, enforce cultural sensitivity norms, and impose penalties for violations. Additionally, the committee called for tighter parental controls, stronger age verification mechanisms, and regional language classification to safeguard children and rural audiences from potentially harmful content.
Unified Online Gaming Framework: Beyond misinformation and cyber threats, the committee also addressed regulatory gaps in India’s online gaming sector. Recognizing the fragmented system governed by multiple ministries and state governments, it recommended the creation of a centralized ecosystem through a comprehensive consultative process. This recommendation came just days before the ‘Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025,’ was passed by Parliament and received Presidential assent on August 22, 2025, aiming to establish a robust legal framework for the sector.
The committee acknowledged existing government efforts, including the Department of Telecommunications’ (DoT) Sanchar Saathi portal and AI-powered initiatives like the Centralized International Out Roamer (CIOR) system, which successfully blocked 1.35 crore spoofed calls in a single day, reducing incidents by 98%. It also lauded TRAI’s 650 consumer awareness drives, MeitY’s Cyber Surakshit Bharat programme that trained over 1,600 CISOs, and the National Centre of Excellence in Cybersecurity for accelerating 153 startups. However, the report stressed that India’s regulatory framework must ‘evolve much faster to stay ahead of criminals.’
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The report underscores the critical need for India to rapidly adapt its legal and technological defenses to protect its citizens and digital infrastructure from the escalating and increasingly sophisticated challenges posed by artificial intelligence and cybercrime.
