Congress slams Centre, PM Modi for censoring AI satire, alleges “mismanagement” at Delhi AI Summit

Accusing the Centre of censoring political satire created using artificial intelligence, the Congress on Thursday (February 14, 2026) claimed that nine AI-generated videos produced by the party had been taken down in the past six weeks at the government’s instance.

Addressing a press conference, Supriya Shrinate said that even as the government was projecting itself as a champion of artificial intelligence, it was “strangling India’s AI potential” through content takedowns.

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“In the last six weeks, nine videos created by the Congress using AI have been forcefully deleted by the Prime Minister, his central government, and BJP-ruled States,” Ms. Shrinate said, adding that all the videos carried a visible disclaimer reading “AI generated video” throughout their duration and were meant as political satire.

“These videos show how cowardly Prime Minister Modi turned his back on his responsibility by telling General Naravane and the Army… How Modi compromised India’s national interest while pursuing a trade deal with America,” Ms. Shrinate said.

Deletion orders were issued by police authorities in BJP-ruled States such as Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra, as well as by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), she claimed, citing Sections 69A and 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

Ms. Shrinate alleged that the provisions were being “blatantly misused” against political opponents, with no transparency or opportunity to contest the orders. “At least tell us what was illegal in these videos. This is how authoritarian regimes work by giving secret orders to take down content,” she alleged.

She also criticised the proposed online censorship portal “Sahyog”, alleging that it would enable a small group of officials and social media platforms to decide what content could remain online.

Welcoming measures against deepfakes, Ms. Shrinate questioned whether political satire carrying AI disclaimers could be treated as misleading content. She also alleged that young members of the party’s social media teams were being contacted by police authorities in connection with the takedowns.

The Congress leader further accused social media companies of “surrendering” to government pressure, claiming that several creators critical of the government had faced demonetisation of their content.

Ms. Shrinate said the party would continue to use satire, humour and technology to question the government, asserting that the Prime Minister was “not above accountability” in a democracy.

Turning to the ongoing AI summit in New Delhi, she alleged that the event had been marred by poor organisation, restrictions on equipment and internet problems that prevented start-ups from demonstrating products. She also criticised a private university for allegedly showcasing a Chinese-made robot as its own innovation, saying the incident had “tarnished India’s image”.

In a separate X post, Congress communication chief Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the ‘MANAV’ acronym and said, “The PM unveils his MANAV vision for AI. There is simply no treatment for this (A)cronym (I)nfection.”

On Thursday, Prime Minister Modi presented the MANAV vision, where M stands for moral and ethical systems, A for accountable governance, N for national sovereignty, A for accessible and inclusive, V for valid and legitimate.