The Delhi High Court has ordered the removal of social media content found defamatory against Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha. The court, however, clarified that Chadha's lawsuit does not fall under the purview of personality rights.
Court's Order and Observations
According to the operative portion of the order pronounced in open court, the High Court directed the removal of certain content that allegedly portrayed Chadha as having "sold himself for money", holding such material to be defamatory. At the same time, the Court held that the present suit does not involve personality rights, indicating that the grievance raised in the case falls outside the scope of protection ordinarily available in personality rights actions.The detailed reasoning of the Court is yet to be made available, as the signed order has not been uploaded on the High Court's website.Balancing Reputation and Free Speech
The matter was reserved for orders after an earlier hearing during which the Court had observed that the material placed before it appeared, prima facie, to concern criticism of a political decision rather than a straightforward case of violation of personality rights.During the hearing, the Bench had remarked that the distinction between defamation and legitimate criticism is often a fine one and stressed the need to balance an individual's right to dignity and reputation with the constitutional guarantee of free speech under Article 19. The Court had also noted that political leaders have historically been subject to satire and criticism in public life.Arguments in Court
Senior Advocate Rajiv Nayar, appearing for Chadha, had argued that the content circulating online went beyond political criticism and consisted of defamatory and profane posts portraying the MP as having switched political allegiance for monetary gain. He had submitted that such AI-generated and manipulated material caused serious reputational harm.Counsel appearing for Meta had contended that several screenshots relied upon by Chadha were newspaper reports or otherwise innocuous material and disputed the allegations made in the suit.Chadha's Plea Against AI-Generated Content
Chadha had approached the High Court seeking protection against the alleged unauthorised use of his image, likeness, voice and identity through artificial intelligence and digitally manipulated content circulated on social media platforms. He sought directions restraining the creation and dissemination of AI-generated deepfakes, morphed videos, synthetic voice clones, fabricated speeches and other allegedly deceptive content using his persona without consent.The case is among a growing number of matters before the Delhi High Court concerning the legal implications of artificial intelligence and the unauthorised use of the identities of public figures. The Court has, in previous cases, granted protection against the misuse of the names, voices and likenesses of celebrities through AI-generated and digitally manipulated content. (ANI)(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianetnews Editorial staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)Add Asianet Newsable as a Preferred Source
