Gujarat HC issues notices to Meta, X, Google over PIL seeking curb on misuse of AI
The Gujarat High Court has issued notices to technology firms Meta India, Google, X, Reddit and Scribd over a PIL seeking formulation of a robust regulatory mechanism to curb the misuse of artificial intelligence (AI) in generating and circulating deepfake videos and photographs.
While issuing notices to them returnable on May 8, a division bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice DN Ray also directed the respondent intermediaries to ensure they are brought onboard the Sahyog portal for better coordination and time-bound action related to takedown of unlawful contents in strict compliance of the provisions of the Rules of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
“Effective and meaningful responses/action of the respondent intermediaries will be key to the due diligence obligations enforced upon them under the statutory framework,” the court noted in an order passed recently and made available this week.
In their affidavits, the central and Gujarat Governments informed the court about frequent delays, repeated procedural obligations and non-compliance by certain tech platforms to lawful notices issued to them.
In its affidavit in response to the notice issued during the previous hearing, the Centre informed the court that in October 2024, it created the Sahyog portal to facilitate immediate, coordinated and time-bound action against unlawful contents by bringing all authorised law enforcement agencies and intermediaries on a single platform.
This is meant for the swift takedown of unlawful synthetically generated information and access to subscriber information, logs and judicial evidence for the identification of offending users, it said.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) informed the court that while certain intermediaries, such as Meta and Google, have significantly improved speed, efficiency and traceability of compliance actions, others have not yet been onboarded or fully integrated with the Sahyog portal.
It specifically mentioned non-responsiveness of X to intimations given to it regarding unlawful content, including synthetically generated information.
A total of 94 intimations were given to X between 2024 and 2026, for containing unlawful contents, including synthetically generated information, but a formal response was received only against 13 intimations, the ministry told the court.
In the PIL, petitioner Vikas Nair has highlighted issues pertaining to widespread creation and circulation of AI-generated videos on digital platforms, which he says pose a serious threat to public order and functioning of a healthy democracy.
He also raised issues about the inaction of the Government in framing specific laws or regulatory mechanisms against deepfake/synthetic/digitally manipulated media AI generated contents.
The petitioner sought the high court’s direction to the respondent Government to formulate a comprehensive and robust regulatory mechanism to curb the misuse of AI in generating and circulating fake videos and photographs.
The PIL contended that there is an immediate requirement to curb the creation and use of such AI deepfakes, which immediately penetrate the social fabric and create an impact which leads to irreversible situations.
