Bombay HC tells social media firms to take action against deepfakes of NSE's MD

New Delhi: The Bombay High Court has directed social media intermediaries to take prompt action against alleged deep fake videos of NSE’s managing director and chief executive officer giving stock recommendations.

A single bench of Justice R I Chagla in the order of July 16 also directed social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram to remove or delete all accounts infringing upon the trademark of NSE (National Stock Exchange of India).

“The balance of convenience also lies in favour of the Plaintiff (NSE) and irreparable loss and/or harm will be caused to the Plaintiff, unless the ad-interim (temporary) relief sought for is granted,” the HC said.

The bench directed the social media platforms to remove or delete the content within ten hours upon receiving a complaint against such morphed videos and profiles where the plaintiff's trademark is infringed.

The court said social media firms are mandated by the Information Technology Rules to take prompt action on the complaints of entities like NSE about unauthorised use of their trademark on dubious “web pages and/or profiles, accounts and/or advertisement and/or videos and/or contents and/or social media groups”.

The NSE had moved HC claiming that the platforms featured a fabricated video of its managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) Ashishkumar Chauhan doling out investment and stock tips. The video was allegedly generated using sophisticated AI (artificial intelligence) technology to imitate his voice and facial expressions.

The NSE sought an order directing the platforms to take down and remove the unauthorised videos.

The NSE further claimed that some perpetrators have allegedly used its trademark and circulated false and misleading advertisements on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

The NSE in its plea said that in April this year, it had also filed a complaint with the cyber police.

Senior counsel Birendra Saraf, appearing for the NSE, told the court that despite complaining to the grievance cell of the social media intermediaries, no action has been taken against such deepfake videos and those infringing upon the trademark.

This deceptive behaviour of the violators is capable of manipulating the markets and thereby resulting in unfair trade practices as well as breach of various regulations of market regulator SEBI (Security Exchange Board of India) enacted from time to time, Saraf argued.

Justice Chagla said NSE had made out a “strong prima facie case” for grant of ad-interim relief sought not only against the intermediaries but also against the unknown perpetrators for infringing its rights.

The HC has restrained any persons from infringing the plaintiff's registered trademark “NSE.”

The court directed the intermediaries to file their affidavits giving details of all those accounts and the persons handling those accounts involved in publishing the fake videos and content similar to fake videos or using the stock exchange’s registered trademark “NSE.”

The affidavits shall be filed within three weeks, the court said and posted the matter for further hearing on August 19.

The court in its order noted that in the alleged deepfake videos, the NSE’s MD and CEO can be seen recommending viewers to join a WhatsApp community where the company would allegedly recommend stock picks.

The videos further assure “full reimbursement by the plaintiff” of the losses caused to investors executing the suggested trades with diligence, the bench noted.