India's broadcast ministry advises TV channels to keep AI in an "assistive capacity"

India's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued an advisory to private satellite TV channels, signed 21 October, on the recommendation of its Inter-Departmental Committee. The advisory covers AI use in programming alongside live anti-terror coverage, debates, maps, disaster and crime reporting, and victim privacy. It names "virtual news presentations" among the uses requiring caution and says AI use "may be limited to assistive capacity", without defining what assistive means. It does not require channels to label AI anchors, and does not state whether it covers the AI anchors already in use at channels including Aaj Tak, News18 and Odisha TV, or at state broadcaster Doordarshan, which MIB has said it wants to expand. The document is an advisory rather than a rule — channels are "advised to exercise due caution" — though it warns that any violation of the Programme Code may invite action under the Cable Television Networks Act.

Why it matters for digital humans: This is the first Indian broadcast-side guidance to touch synthetic presenters, and it lands awkwardly: the same ministry that wants the state broadcaster to expand its AI anchors is advising private channels to keep AI assistive. For anyone selling avatar presenters into Indian broadcast, the practical risk is not a ban but an undefined standard enforced after the fact. The absence of a labelling requirement is also notable — disclosure would help a channel distinguish its own authorised anchor from an impersonation, and MeitY's separate labelling push currently applies to social platforms rather than broadcasters.