ASCI ISSUES GUIDELINES FOR RESPONSIBLE LABELLING OF SYNTHETICALLY GENERATED CONTENT IN ADVERTISING

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has, on September 29, 2026, issued the Guidelines for Responsible Labelling of Synthetically Generated Content in Advertising (Guidelines) following stakeholder consultations on the draft guidelines released in May 2026. The Guidelines regulate the use of synthetically generated content (SGC) in advertising by specifying when advertisers must disclose that content has been generated or materially altered using artificial intelligence or similar technologies. The Guidelines will come into effect three months from the date of publication.

The Guidelines adopt a consumer-impact-based approach. Disclosure is required where SGC could materially influence a consumer’s decision and the absence of disclosure may create a false or misleading impression regarding the advertised product or service. At the same time, the Guidelines clarify that disclosure does not cure an advertisement that is otherwise misleading or in violation of the ASCI Code.

The key aspects of the Guidelines include, inter alia, the following:

1. Content requiring disclosure: Disclosure is required where the use of SGC could materially affect consumer understanding or decision-making. This includes synthetic influencers or brand ambassadors, consent-based replication of a real person’s voice or likeness for personalised advertising, fabricated events or settings that may affect consumers’ understanding of a product, demonstrations of products that do not yet exist and AI-generated sound effects closely connected with a product’s principal features.

2. Sponsored AI-generated recommendations: Paid or sponsored product recommendations generated using AI must carry the specific disclosure, “Sponsored by [Brand]”.

3. Prohibited content: Advertisements that fabricate endorsements, exaggerate product results, depict fictional locations as real, use copyrighted material without authorisation or use a person’s likeness without consent will remain prohibited. The inclusion of an AI-generated-content label will not make an advertisement compliant where its underlying representation is misleading or otherwise violates the ASCI Code.

4. Uses not requiring disclosure: Disclosure is not required for routine editing or production assistance that does not materially affect consumers’ ability to make an informed decision. Illustrative examples include colour correction, lighting adjustments, noise reduction, minor blemish removal, decorative or ambient elements, clearly fantastical effects and administrative or text-based uses such as generating advertising copy.

5. Accessibility applications: AI-assisted subtitles, translations and accurate audio descriptions do not require disclosure where they are used as accessibility tools and do not materially alter the representation made in the advertisement.

6. Form of disclosure: Where disclosure is required, advertisers may use labels such as “Audio/Video created using AI” or “Audio/Video enhanced using AI”. Platform-provided labels may also be used, and alternative wording is permitted where it accurately communicates the nature of the synthetic content. The disclosure must additionally comply with ASCI’s existing requirements governing disclaimers.

7. Continued application of the ASCI Code: All advertisements incorporating SGC will continue to be assessed under the ASCI Code in its entirety. Accordingly, advertisers remain responsible for ensuring that the overall communication is honest, transparent and not misleading, irrespective of whether the use of AI has been disclosed.

Conclusion:

The Guidelines establish a risk-based framework for the use of synthetically generated content in advertising, focusing on whether such content materially affects consumer understanding or purchasing decisions. Advertisers, brands and agencies should review their content-development and approval processes to identify material uses of SGC, ensure appropriate disclosures and verify that AI-generated representations, endorsements, demonstrations and likenesses independently comply with the ASCI Code. Routine production assistance and immaterial edits remain outside the disclosure requirement, helping preserve operational flexibility while strengthening transparency in consumer-facing advertising.