Delhi HC grants interim protection to Shashi Tharoor against alleged AI deepfakes, orders takedown of posts

New Delhi [India], May 9 : The Delhi High Court on Saturday granted interim protection to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in his plea against alleged AI-generated deepfake videos, observing that he enjoys enforceable personality and publicity rights over all facets of his persona.

Justice Mini Pushkarna, while hearing Tharoor's suit seeking protection of his personality rights and reputation, held that a prima facie case was made out in his favour and restrained unknown persons from creating or circulating synthetic media using his identity through artificial intelligence and related technologies.

The Court directed X Corp to take down specified links containing the alleged deepfake content and asked Meta to ensure that identified Instagram URLs, which had already been blocked, continue to remain inaccessible.

The Court also directed the platforms to disclose the identity and subscriber details of the uploaders and creators of the allegedly infringing content within three weeks.

The order came on a civil suit filed by Tharoor seeking a permanent injunction against alleged misuse of his personality, voice, likeness and public image through AI-generated deepfake videos.

Senior Advocate Amit Sibal, appearing for Tharoor, argued that fabricated videos generated using artificial intelligence had allegedly cloned the Congress leader's face, voice, vocabulary and speaking style. According to the plea, the manipulated videos falsely depicted Tharoor making politically sensitive remarks, including statements allegedly praising Pakistan's diplomatic strategy. The suit claimed that the content caused serious damage to his credibility and public standing.

The Court recorded submissions that Tharoor, a former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and former Minister of State for External Affairs, had built immense goodwill and public trust over decades of public life. The suit stated that the alleged deepfakes surfaced around March 2026 and continued circulating despite fact-checks by media organisations and independent agencies.

Sibal argued before the Court that the matter involved the protection of an individual's personality rights and reputation, submitting that identical videos kept resurfacing through different URLs even after takedowns. Counsel for Meta informed the Court that the Instagram URLs identified in the plaint had been made inaccessible on Friday morning.

In its interim findings, the Court observed that Tharoor's "reputation, goodwill, name, physical appearance/image/likeness, voice, mannerisms, styles, signature oratorical style, and other attributes are uniquely identifiable and associated" with him, and therefore form part of his protected personality.

The High Court further noted that personality and publicity rights are protectable under Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution.

Pending further hearing, the Court restrained Defendant No. 1, described as Ashok Kumar/John Doe and associated persons, from reproducing or imitating any aspect of Tharoor's persona, including his name, image, voice and speaking style for creation or dissemination of deepfakes, voice-cloned audio or morphed videos through AI, generative AI or machine learning technologies.

The Court also granted liberty to Tharoor to approach social media platforms for the removal of any additional similar content discovered during the pendency of the suit.

The High Court issued a summons in the suit and directed the defendants to file written statements within 30 days. The matter has been listed before the Joint Registrar on July 13 and before the Court on October 13, 2026.

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