The Delhi High Court has issued an interim order protecting the personality rights of Congress Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor, directing the social media platform X to remove an AI-generated deepfake video that falsely depicted him praising Pakistan.
Information was available with The Chenab Times indicating that Justice Mini Pushkarna, in her ruling on Mr. Tharoor’s lawsuit, also prohibited the unauthorized use of his name, image, distinct voice, characteristic speaking style, sophisticated vocabulary, and other personal attributes for creating and disseminating deepfakes, voice-cloned audio, or morphed videos. These restrictions apply across all mediums, whether physical or virtual, and are intended to prevent commercial, political, or malicious exploitation.
The court further mandated that Meta ensure certain reels on Instagram, which had already been made inaccessible, remain so. Mr. Tharoor had approached the court following repeated instances of deepfake videos being published online, purportedly showing him making politically sensitive statements. His legal counsel had argued that such content not only damaged his personal reputation but also adversely affected India’s international standing.
In the interim order, Justice Pushkarna stated that Mr. Tharoor, as a prominent and recognized public figure, holds exclusive control over the use of his persona. The court affirmed that any misappropriation of his personal attributes without explicit consent, leading to reputational harm, is subject to legal restraint.
The court’s order underscored that personality rights, also known as publicity rights, are protected under Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India. It detailed that the plaintiff’s reputation, goodwill, name, likeness, voice, mannerisms, and speaking style are uniquely identifiable and intrinsically linked to his persona, over which he possesses sole and exclusive control.
Specifically, Defendant No. 1 (identified as Ashok Kumar / John Doe) has been restrained from reproducing, misappropriating, or imitating any aspect of Mr. Tharoor’s persona. This includes his name, visual likeness, distinct voice, signature oratorical cadence, manner of speaking, and refined vocabulary. The injunction prevents the creation, publication, or dissemination of synthetic media, deepfakes, voice-cloned audio, or morphed videos generated through artificial intelligence, generative AI, machine learning, or any other technology, for commercial, political, or malicious purposes on any platform. Defendant No. 2 (X) was directed to immediately take down and block access to the specified link on its platform.
The High Court also clarified that should any further false, fake, or infringing videos emerge, Mr. Tharoor is at liberty to approach the social media platforms for their removal. Additionally, the court ordered social media platforms to provide Mr. Tharoor with the complete identity, registration particulars, basic subscriber information, IP login details, phone numbers, and email addresses of the uploaders, creators, and registrants of any infringing accounts within a period of three weeks.
In his lawsuit, Mr. Tharoor detailed that around March 2026, he became aware of a sophisticated and malicious campaign orchestrated by unknown individuals across social media platforms. These efforts deliberately created fabricated videos depicting him making politically sensitive statements in praise of Pakistan.
Mr. Tharoor was represented in court by senior advocate Amit Sibal and the law firm Trilegal. The lawsuit contended that the unauthorized cloning and exploitation of Mr. Tharoor’s likeness, voice, and mannerisms constituted an infringement of his personality and publicity rights, and a significant violation of his right to privacy.
The legal plea highlighted that these infringers had weaponized artificial intelligence and machine learning to generate hyper-realistic audio-visual deepfakes by cloning the plaintiff’s face, voice, vocabulary, and mannerisms. These fabricated videos maliciously attributed politically sensitive statements to Mr. Tharoor, which he never made.
The lawsuit further emphasized the timing of this disinformation campaign, noting its particular damage during March and early April, a period when Mr. Tharoor was actively campaigning for the Kerala Legislative Assembly elections in 2026. The plea described the campaign as a deliberate attempt to tarnish his patriotic credentials, manipulate public perception, and unlawfully interfere with the democratic electoral process.
This case follows a series of similar legal actions where various public figures have sought protection for their personality and publicity rights. Previously, personalities such as actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, and Salman Khan, Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, journalist Sudhir Chaudhary, podcaster Raj Shamani, and Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan have approached the High Court and received interim relief. More recently, the court has also granted interim protection to the personality rights of cricketer Gautam Gambhir and actors Sonakshi Sinha, Vivek Oberoi, and Allu Arjun.
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