Big Relief for Nitin Gadkari: Bombay High Court Orders Takedown of 'Vile' Deepfake Posts (Img: Dynamite News)
Mumbai: An interim order of relief has been passed by the Bombay High Court in a defamation case involving AI-generated deepfake videos and social media abuses against Union Minister Nitin Gadkari in relation to the E20 ethanol blending scheme initiated by the Centre. The court ordered major social media networks like Meta and Google to take down the content, pointing out that such content had no place on public forums.
During the hearing of the case, the High Court observed that the content marked out by Gadkari was "absolutely vile" and unsuitable for dissemination to the public at large. The court noted that such posts, which can be viewed by everyone regardless of their age, cannot stay on the Internet forever. Both Meta and Google have recorded their responses saying that they will remove the content.
In the legal case, Gadkari has listed as the respondents - Meta, X, Google/YouTube, Ministry of Electronics & IT, Department of Telecommunications, and unnamed others. He has asked for permanent orders for the removal of videos/images/other AI-generated content that were allegedly portraying him in a bad light in connection with E20 ethanol policy.
As per the petition, several social media posts have been spreading lies about Gadkari and his family being benefitted financially from the government's ethanol blending policy and misuse of his official position. It was also mentioned that his son, Nikhil Gadkari, had ties with the ethanol manufacturing company.
Also Read: Nitin Gadkari Moves Bombay High Court Over Defamatory E20 Posts and Deepfake Videos
Gadkari refuted all the accusations and said that the social media posts carried false images, false quotes, and abusive language which went beyond criticism and amounted to defamation. He further made it clear that the lawsuit was meant to take down all the falsities and manipulation in the content.
