#Fact Check – Analysis of Viral Claims Regarding India's UNSC Permanent Membership

Introduction

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AI is transforming the way work is done and redefining the nature of jobs over the next decade. In the case of India, it is not just what duties will be taken over by machines, but how millions of employees will move to other sectors, which skills will become more sought-after, and how policy will have to change in response. This article relies on recent labour data of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS, 2023-24) and discusses the vulnerabilities to disruption by location and social groups. It recommends viable actions that can be taken to ensure that risks are minimised and economic benefits maximised.

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India’s Labour Market and Its Automation Readiness

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According to India’s Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), the labour market is changing and growing. Participation in the labour force improved to 60.1 per percent in 2023-24 versus 57.9 per cent the year before, and the ratio of the worker population also improved, signifying the increased employment uptake both in the rural and urban geographies (PLFS, 2023-24). There has also been an upsurge of female involvement. However,  a big portion of the job market has been low-wage and informal, with most of the jobs being routine and thus most vulnerable to automation. The statistics indicate a two-tiered reality of the Indian labour market: an increased number of working individuals and a structural weakness.

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AI-Driven Automation’s Impact on Tasks and Emerging Opportunities 

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AI-driven automation, for the most part,  affects the task components of jobs rather than wiping out whole jobs. The most automatable tasks are routine and manual, and more recent developments in AI have extended to non-routine cognitive tasks like document review, customer query handling, basic coding and first-level decision-making. There are two concurrent findings of global studies. To start with, part of the ongoing tasks will be automated or expedited. Second, there will be completely new tasks and work positions around data annotation, the operation of AI systems, prompt engineering, algorithmic supervision and AI adherence (World Bank, 2025; McKinsey, 2017).

In the case of India, this change will be skewed by sector. The manufacturing, back-office IT services, retail and parts of financial services will see the highest rate of disruption due to the concentration of routine processes with the ease of technology adoption. In comparison, healthcare, education, high-tech manufacturing and AI safety auditing are placed to create new skilled jobs. NITI Aayog estimates huge returns in GDP with the adoption of AI but emphasises that India has to invest simultaneously in job creation and reskilling to achieve the returns (NITI Aayog, 2025).

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Groups with Highest Vulnerability in the Transition to Automation

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The PLFS emphasises that a large portion of the Indian population does not have any formal employment and that the social protection is minimal and formal training is not available to them. The risk of displacement is likely to be the greatest for informal employees, making up almost 90% of India’s labour force, who carry out low-skilled, repetitive jobs in the manufacturing and retail industry (PLFS, 2023-24). Women and young people in low-level service jobs also face a greater challenge of transition pressure unless the reskilling and placement efforts can be tailored to them. Meanwhile, major cities and urban centres are likely to have openings for most of the new skilled opportunities at the expense of an increasing geographic and social divide. 

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The Skills and Supply Challenge

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While India’s education and research ecosystem is expanding, there remain significant gaps in preparing the workforce for AI-driven change. Given the vulnerabilities highlighted earlier, AI-focused reskilling must be a priority to equip workers with practical skills that meet industry needs. Short modular programs in areas such as cloud technologies, AI operations, data annotation, human-AI interaction, and cybersecurity can provide workers with employable skills. Particular attention should be given to routine-intensive sectors like manufacturing, retail, and back-office services, as well as to regions with high informal employment or lower access to formal training. Public-private partnerships and localised training initiatives can help ensure that reskilling translates into concrete job opportunities rather than purely theoretical knowledge (NITI Aayog, 2025)

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The Way Forward

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To facilitate the change process, the policy should focus on three interconnected goals: safeguarding the vulnerable, developing competencies on a large-scale level, and directing innovation towards the widespread ability to benefit.

1. Protect the vulnerable through social buffers. Provide informal workers with social protection in the form of portable benefits, temporary income insurance based on reskilling, and earned training leave. While the new labour codes provide essential protections such as unemployment allowances and minimum wage standards, they could be strengthened by incorporating explicit provisions for reskilling. This would better support informal workers during job transitions and enhance workforce adaptability.
2. Short modular courses on cloud computing, cybersecurity, data annotation, AI operations, and human-AI interaction should be planned through collaboration between public and private training providers. Special preference should be given to industry-certified certifications and apprenticeship-based placements. These apprenticeships should be made accessible in multiple languages to ensure inclusivity. Existing government initiatives, such as NASSCOM’s Future Skills Prime, need better outreach and marketing to reach the workforce effectively.
3. Enhance local labour market mediators. Close the disparity between local demand and the supply of labour in the industry by enhancing placement services and government-subsidised internship programmes for displaced employees and encouraging firms to hire and train locally.
4. Invest in AI literacy, AI ethics, and basic education. Democratise access to research and learning by introducing AI literacy in schools, increasing STEM seats in universities, and creating AI labs in the region (NITI Aayog, 2025).
5. Encourage AI adoption that creates jobs rather than replaces them. Fiscal and regulatory incentives should prioritise AI tools that augment worker productivity in routine roles instead of eliminating positions. Public procurement can support firms that demonstrate responsible and inclusive deployment of AI, ensuring technology benefits both business and workforce.
6. Supervise and oversee the transition. Use PLFS and real-time administrative data to monitor shrinking and expanding occupations. High-frequency labour market dashboards will allow making specific interventions in those regions in which the acceleration of displacement occurs.

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Conclusion

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The integration of AI will significantly impact the future of the Indian workforce, but policy will determine its effect on the labour market.  The PLFS indicates increased employment but a structural weakness of informal and routine employment. Evidence from the Indian market and international research points to the fact that the appropriate combination of social protection, skills building and responsible technology implementation can change disruption into a path of upward mobility. There is a very limited window of action. The extent to which India will realise the productivity and GDP benefits predicted by national research, alongside the investments made in labour market infrastructure, remains uncertain. It is crucial that these efforts lead to the capture of gains and facilitate a fair and inclusive transition for workers.

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References

• Annual Report Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) JULY 2022 - JUNE 2023. 
• Future Jobs: Robots, Artificial Intelligence, and Digital Platforms in East Asia and Pacific, World Bank. 
• Jobs Lost, Jobs Gained: What the Future of Work Will Mean for Jobs, Skills, and Wages, McKinsey Global Institute 
• Roadmap for Job Creation in the AI Economy, NITI Aayog
• India central bank chief warns of financial stability risks from growing use of AI, Reuters 
• AI Cyber Attacks Statistics 2025, SQ Magazine. 

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Introduction

In India, the rights of children with regard to protection of their personal data are enshrined under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 which is the newly enacted digital personal data protection law of India. The DPDP Act requires that for the processing of children's personal data, verifiable consent of parents or legal guardians is a necessary requirement. If the consent of parents or legal guardians is not obtained then it constitutes a violation under the DPDP Act. Under section 2(f) of the DPDP act, a “child” means an individual who has not completed the age of eighteen years. 

Section 9 under the DPDP Act, 2023

With reference to the collection of children's data section 9 of the DPDP Act, 2023 provides that for children below 18 years of age, consent from Parents/Legal Guardians is required. The Data Fiduciary shall, before processing any personal data of a child or a person with a disability who has a lawful guardian, obtain verifiable consent from the parent or the lawful guardian. Section 9 aims to create a safer online environment for children by limiting the exploitation of their data for commercial purposes or otherwise. By virtue of this section, the parents and guardians will have more control over their children's data and privacy and they are empowered to make choices as to how they manage their children's online activities and the permissions they grant to various online services. 

Section 9 sub-section (3) specifies that a Data Fiduciary shall not undertake tracking or behavioural monitoring of children or targeted advertising directed at children. However, section 9 sub-section (5) further provides room for exemption from this prohibition by empowering the Central Government which may notify exemption to specific data fiduciaries or data processors from the behavioural tracking or target advertising prohibition under the future DPDP Rules which are yet to be announced or released. 

Impact on social media platforms

Social media companies are raising concerns about Section 9 of the DPDP Act and upcoming Rules for the DPDP Act. Section 9 prohibits behavioural tracking or targeted advertising directed at children on digital platforms. By prohibiting intermediaries from tracking a ‘child's internet activities’ and ‘targeted advertising’ - this law aims to preserve children's privacy. However, social media corporations contended that this limitation adversely affects the efficacy of safety measures intended to safeguard young users, highlighting the necessity of monitoring specific user signals, including from minors, to guarantee the efficacy of safety measures designed for them.

Social media companies assert that tracking teenagers' behaviour is essential for safeguarding them from predators and harmful interactions. They believe that a complete ban on behavioural tracking is counterproductive to the government's objectives of protecting children. The scope to grant exemption leaves the door open for further advocacy on this issue. Hence it necessitates coordination with the concerned ministry and relevant stakeholders to find a balanced approach that maintains both privacy and safety for young users.

Furthermore, the impact on social media platforms also extends to the user experience and the operational costs required to implement the functioning of the changes created by regulations. This also involves significant changes to their algorithms and data-handling processes. Implementing robust age verification systems to identify young users and protect their data will also be a technically challenging step for the various scales of platforms. Ensuring that children’s data is not used for targeted advertising or behavioural monitoring also requires sophisticated data management systems. The blanket ban on targeted advertising and behavioural tracking may also affect the personalisation of content for young users, which may reduce their engagement with the platform.

For globally operating platforms, aligning their practices with the DPDP Act in India while also complying with data protection laws in other countries (such as GDPR in Europe or COPPA in the US) can be complex and resource-intensive. Platforms might choose to implement uniform global policies for simplicity, which could impact their operations in regions not governed by similar laws. On the same page, competitive dynamics such as market shifts where smaller or niche platforms that cater specifically to children and comply with these regulations may gain a competitive edge. There may be a drive towards developing new, compliant ways of monetizing user interactions that do not rely on behavioural tracking.

CyberPeace Policy Recommendations

A balanced strategy should be taken into account which gives weightage to the contentions of social media companies as well as to the protection of children's personal information. Instead of a blanket ban, platforms can be obliged to follow and encourage openness in advertising practices, ensuring that children are not exposed to any misleading or manipulative marketing techniques. Self-regulation techniques can be implemented to support ethical behaviour, responsibility, and the safety of young users’ online personal information through the platform’s practices. Additionally, verifiable consent should be examined and put forward in a manner which is practical and the platforms have a say in designing the said verification. Ultimately, this should be dealt with in a manner that behavioural tracking and targeted advertising are not affecting the children's well-being, safety and data protection in any way. 

Final Words

Under section 9 of the DPDP Act, the prohibition of behavioural tracking and targeted advertising in case of processing children's personal data - will compel social media platforms to overhaul their data collection and advertising practices, ensuring compliance with stricter privacy regulations. The legislative intent behind this provision is to enhance and strengthen the protection of children's digital personal data security and privacy. As children are particularly vulnerable to digital threats due to their still-evolving maturity and cognitive capacities, the protection of their privacy stands as a priority. The innocence of children is a major cause for concern when it comes to digital access because children simply do not possess the discernment and caution required to be able to navigate the Internet safely. Furthermore, a balanced approach needs to be adopted which maintains both ‘privacy’ and ‘safety’ for young users.

References

• https://www.meity.gov.in/writereaddata/files/Digital%20Personal%20Data%20Protection%20Act%202023.pdf 
• https://www.firstpost.com/tech/as-govt-of-india-starts-preparing-rules-for-dpdp-act-social-media-platforms-worried-13789134.html#google_vignette
• https://www.business-standard.com/industry/news/social-media-platforms-worry-new-data-law-could-affect-child-safety-ads-124070400673_1.html

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Executive Summary

A letter circulating on social media falsely claims that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has resigned from his post. CyberPeace Research Wing's research found the claim to be false. Our research  confirmed that the viral letter is fabricated and is being shared with a misleading claim. AI detection tools also indicate that the document is highly likely to have been generated using artificial intelligence.

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Claim

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An Instagram user shared the viral letter on July 29, 2026, claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had resigned from office.

The post link, archived link, and screenshot are provided below:

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=2108984893363522&set=a.785246212404070 

https://ghostarchive.org/archive/aHXTq 

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Fact Check

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To verify the claim, we conducted a keyword search on Google. However, we found no credible media reports supporting the claim that Prime Minister Modi had resigned.

We then visited the official website of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO India). The website contained no announcement, press release, or official information confirming the purported resignation.

https://www.pmindia.gov.in/en/ 

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As part of our research , we also reviewed the official X (formerly Twitter) account of PMO India. We found no post or statement related to the viral claim.

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https://x.com/PMOIndia 

Finally, we analyzed the viral letter using the AI detection tool Sightengine AI. The analysis indicated that the document is 99% likely to be AI-generated.

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To further verify the findings, we also scanned the letter using AI or Not. According to the tool's analysis, the document is 64% likely to be AI-generated.

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Conclusion

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The claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has resigned is false. No credible media organization or official government source has reported such a development. Furthermore, AI detection tools strongly suggest that the viral resignation letter was generated using artificial intelligence and is being circulated with a false claim.

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