“Appalling, deplorable, defamatory” – these were the strong words used by the Delhi High Court as it ordered the immediate removal of AI-generated obscene content falsely depicting a woman social media influencer.
In a landmark ruling aimed at curbing the misuse of artificial intelligence for creating deepfake pornography, the Delhi High Court on Friday directed social media platforms and pornographic websites to immediately take down explicit AI-generated content that defames a popular woman influencer.
Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav passed an interim injunction, condemning the content in no uncertain terms:
“The content shared online is completely appalling, deplorable, defamatory, and is a patent breach of the fundamental rights of the plaintiff.”
The woman, whose name has been kept confidential by court order, had approached the court after discovering that manipulated images and videos falsely depicting her in explicit situations were circulating on social media and adult websites.
Her plea highlighted violations of her fundamental rights, including the right to privacy, dignity, and reputation. Her counsel argued that the content not only caused deep emotional harm but also constituted a civil wrong under Indian law.
Agreeing with the submissions, the court issued a strong takedown directive to all platforms hosting the deepfake content. Furthermore, the Court empowered the influencer to flag future links (URLs) of such offensive material directly to the concerned platforms, who are then obligated to act:
“The plaintiff is at liberty to notify defendant Nos. 28 to 31 or any other intermediary platforms/website(s), of any subsequently discovered URLs… which shall be acted upon by the said defendants.”
In a move to trace the origin of the deepfake material, the Court also directed Meta (Facebook) and X (formerly Twitter) to disclose details of the users or accounts that initially published the fake content.
To protect the influencer’s identity and prevent further trauma, the Court instructed the Registry to ensure anonymity in legal filings:
“Considering the confidentiality of the instant matter, the Registry is directed to delete the name and other details of the plaintiff… and take appropriate steps to amend the cause title.”
This ruling marks a critical moment in India’s legal response to AI-generated sexual abuse and underlines the judiciary’s commitment to safeguarding digital dignity and privacy.
Advocate for Plaintiff: Raghav Awasthi
Advocates for Google: Mamta Rani Jha, Rohan Ahuja, Shruttima Ehersa, Diya, and Aishwarya
Advocates for Union of India: Chetanya Puri, Anubhav Tyagi, Nisha, and Puneet Singh
Case: X vs JIX5A & Ors. – Available on LAWFYI.IO
