Nitin Gadkari may sue Meta, X:Bombay HC allows action against deepfake videos on ethanol fuel row

The Bombay High Court on Monday allowed Union Minister Nitin Gadkari to file a civil suit against Meta, X, Google and others over the circulation of alleged defamatory and AI-generated deepfake content about him, Bar and Bench reported. According to the suit, several social media posts and deepfake videos falsely claimed that Gadkari was personally responsible for the government’s E20 petrol policy and that he and his family benefited financially from it. Gadkari said these allegations are false, malicious and have damaged his reputation. Suit seeks removal of deepfakes and defamatory posts Gadkari has sought permanent and mandatory injunctions against social media posts, tweets, reels, videos and other content that allegedly use abusive language, falsely attribute statements to him and deploy AI-manipulated audio and video simulating his name, image, likeness and voice without his consent. The suit claims the material has caused “grave and irreparable” harm to his reputation, dignity, goodwill and public image, while infringing his personality and publicity rights. The plaint clarifies that the legal action is not intended to stifle fair public debate or bona fide criticism based on true facts. It argues that the case concerns defamatory allegations and manipulated content that, according to Gadkari, cross the line of lawful free speech. Meta, X, Google among defendants The proposed suit names Meta (Facebook and Instagram), X Corp, Google LLC, YouTube, the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the Department of Telecommunications and unidentified content creators and distributors, who have been impleaded as “Ashok Kumars/John Does”.