Delhi HC protects Rajat Sharma's personality rights, orders removal of deepfake content

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has ordered the removal of all AI- and deepfake-generated content featuring journalist Rajat Sharma.

The court ruled in favour of Rajat Sharma, prohibiting the misuse, misappropriation, or exploitation of his name, likeness, image, voice, photos, or videos through AI or deepfake technology for any commercial or personal gain without his explicit written consent.

Delhi’s apex court also ordered Meta Platforms Inc., with immediate action, to remove all impugned content shared on the platform.   

Saikrishna Rajagopal, representing Rajat Sharma, in the court, submitted that “gross misinformation against Sharma, including through wrongful use of AI technology for the creation of doctored videos bearing distorted, modified and modulated images/voice and other personality traits was being perpetuated.”

Sharma’s counsel stated that the content was being circulated to promote “purported drugs” for diabetes, joint pains, etc. Citing that misattributing Sharma endorsing “fraudulent remedies” for health issues violated his personality rights. 

The counsel argued that using “Sharma’s reputation in this content amplifies potential harm’ as the general public may be misled into purchasing harmful and ineffective products. The submission stated, “Unlike other celebrities, whose association with commercial products might predominantly involve lifestyle or luxury goods, Sharma’s professional standing as a journalist entails a heightened sense of accountability and trustworthiness.”

Justice Amit Bansal, mentioning Meta Platforms Inc., stated that, “during the pendency of the suit,” if Sharma and his team discover any more false, fake, and infringing videos, then he has the liberty to “approach” Meta and request them to take down such posts and “file an affidavit to that effect before this court.”

In his plaint, Sharma also alleged the unauthorised usage and infringement of registered trademarks of India TV, along with copyright in its ‘Aaj Ki Baat: Rajat Sharma Ke Saath’ show footage.

The high court also directed the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) and Ministry of Electronics and Information (MeitY) to issue necessary notifications to “all telecom and internet service providers to block/suspend/the websites, telephone numbers, social media accounts, channels, platforms, etc. that may subsequently be notified on affidavit by the India TV journalist if he finds them to be “infringing exclusive rights to the content and violating his rights.”

Earlier this month, Sharma raised concerns about his deepfake videos and shared a contact number on which people could inform him if they see any of those fake videos. This followed Sharma filing a complaint against his deepfake videos in the Delhi Police’s cyber crime cell. He also shared a tweet in which he claimed people were selling fake medicines using his deepfake videos.