Delhi High Court Shields Bollywood Star from Digital Impersonation
The Delhi High Court has stepped in to protect the personality rights of renowned Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn, issuing a significant order for the removal of deepfake videos and other objectionable content that misuses his identity. Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora delivered the ruling on Thursday, providing relief similar to what the court has recently granted other celebrities fighting digital impersonation.
Comprehensive Protection Sought Against AI Misuse
In his petition before the High Court, Devgn sought broad protection of his personality and publicity rights, including safeguards against the unauthorized use of variants of his name such as 'Ajay Veeru Devgn' or 'Ajay Veeru Devgan'. The actor's legal team emphasized the urgent need for adequate and workable safeguards to ensure that content violating intellectual property rights isn't used to train artificial intelligence models.
Devgn joins an expanding list of prominent celebrities including Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Karan Johar and Kumar Sanu who have approached courts seeking protection of their personality rights amid the rapid proliferation of AI-generated content that impersonates them and their distinctive attributes.
Multiple Platforms Flagged for Violations
The actor's complaint highlighted several concerning instances of identity misuse. Among the entities flagged was a platform that falsely claims to book appearances by Devgn despite lacking authorization. The petition also identified e-commerce platforms illegally selling his posters and merchandise, YouTube channels creating unauthorized and unpleasant AI-generated content using his name and likeness, and various fan club pages on Facebook operating without permission.
Particularly alarming was the identification of pornographic content, including deepfake pornographic material, being hosted and disseminated online, which Devgn's legal team argued is causing significant harm to his reputation as a family-friendly personality.
During the proceedings, Justice Arora questioned Devgn's counsel about whether they had registered formal complaints with platforms like YouTube or Google about the inappropriate content. The counsel responded that these platforms typically require court orders before taking action against such material.
The court indicated it would be passing specific orders concerning social media intermediaries and their responsibilities in preventing the spread of such infringing content. This case represents a growing legal frontier as Indian courts grapple with the challenges posed by rapidly advancing AI technology and its potential for celebrity impersonation and identity theft.
