The Delhi High Court has issued summons to five major social media intermediaries — Meta (Facebook and Instagram), X Corp (formerly Twitter), YouTube (Google), Telegram and ShareChat — in a batch petition seeking urgent judicial intervention to combat the spread of AI-generated deepfake videos targeting political candidates during elections.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, taking up the matter on priority given the proximity of state assembly elections, observed:
"The regulatory framework for AI-generated content appears inadequate. The IT Rules, as they presently stand, do not specifically address deepfakes in the electoral context. This court requires detailed responses from the platforms on their existing policies and removal mechanisms."
The petitioners — a consortium of electoral integrity organisations — submitted that deepfake videos showing political leaders making inflammatory statements were being widely circulated on these platforms with minimal moderation.
The platforms have been given four weeks to file their responses.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, taking up the matter on priority given the proximity of state assembly elections, observed:
"The regulatory framework for AI-generated content appears inadequate. The IT Rules, as they presently stand, do not specifically address deepfakes in the electoral context. This court requires detailed responses from the platforms on their existing policies and removal mechanisms."
The petitioners — a consortium of electoral integrity organisations — submitted that deepfake videos showing political leaders making inflammatory statements were being widely circulated on these platforms with minimal moderation.
The platforms have been given four weeks to file their responses.