'Such Material Has No Place': Bombay HC Orders Takedown of Deepfakes Targeting Gadkari

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted interim relief to Union minister Nitin Gadkari, directing Meta, X and Google to immediately remove all "vile, abusive, obscene and defamatory" social media posts targeting him.

A single-judge bench of Justice Arif Doctor passed the order while hearing Gadkari's civil defamation suit over AI-generated deepfake videos and manipulated posts that falsely alleged he and his family had received illegal financial benefits from the Centre's ethanol-blended petrol (E20) programme.

Calling the content "absolutely vile and abusive", Justice Doctor said such material "should have no place on a public platform, which is accessible to everyone, including the younger generation."

The court also questioned whether the platforms had any mechanism to proactively detect and remove such content, observing that with the technology at their disposal, they should be able to identify and delete abusive material without forcing victims to approach the courts.

The bench further said that if similar deepfakes or AI-generated defamatory posts are uploaded in future, Gadkari may approach the platforms directly, which should act on his complaints promptly. It stressed the need for a mechanism that enables online platforms to remove such content without judicial intervention.

The matter has been posted for further hearing after four weeks, with the respondents directed to file their affidavits.

Gadkari had moved the high court last week against Meta, X Corp, Google LLC and unknown persons, seeking the immediate removal of allegedly defamatory deepfakes and AI-generated posts, a permanent injunction against their circulation, and Rs 11 crore in damages.

According to the suit, unknown persons circulated AI-generated videos and posts falsely portraying Gadkari as personally responsible for the ethanol-blending programme and alleging that he and his family had financially benefited from it. The minister contended that these allegations were "false, malicious and grossly defamatory" and had caused irreparable harm to his reputation and personality rights.

The plea also clarified that the ethanol-blending programme and the E20 policy are administered by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, not by Gadkari personally. It added that while the suit does not seek to curb fair criticism or bona fide public debate, it challenges fabricated and defamatory content that has crossed the bounds of lawful free speech.