Bombay HC Directs X, Meta, Google To Take Down Defamatory AI Deepfakes On Gadkari
The petition specifically referred to claims that the minister’s son, Nikhil Gadkari, runs CIAN Agro Industries & Infrastructure Limited: Reports
MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has directed major social media platforms and search engines to immediately remove artificial intelligence-generated deepfake videos targeting Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari. Justice Arif Doctor issued the order after determining that the circulating content, which falsely linked Gadkari to illicit financial gains under the central government’s ethanol-blended petrol (E20) policy, was prima facie defamatory.
The court order follows a petition permitted by a bench led by Justice Abhay Ahuja on 27 July, which allowed the Union Minister to initiate legal action against X (formerly Twitter), Meta, Google, and anonymous social media users. Justice Doctor specified that the identified objectionable material must be pulled down from the internet immediately, further mandating that any similar defamatory content brought to the court's attention in the future be removed promptly.
In his submission, Mr. Gadkari detailed the structural history of the national ethanol initiative, noting that the Ethanol Blending Program was first introduced as a strategic concept in 2003 and achieved its 20 per cent blending target for 2025–26. The petition clarified that all policy implementation, circulars, and regulatory updates fall under the domain of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, rather than the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, which Gadkari has headed since 2014.
The petition highlighted at least 24 specific links and posts containing AI-manipulated content that falsely accused the minister and his family members of corruption, nepotism, and abuse of power for monetary advantage. “I fully respect fair democratic criticism, discussion, or difference of opinion regarding policies in public life. This legal step is not intended to take away anyone's right to free speech. However, false, character-assassinating, and defamatory content generated using AI and deepfakes is a legal offense,” Mr. Gadkari stated in his petition.
The petition specifically referred to claims that the minister’s son, Nikhil Gadkari, runs CIAN Agro Industries & Infrastructure Limited, a company engaged in manufacturing ethanol and other products, and that this allegedly results in indirect benefit from ethanol blending of petrol. Mr. Gadkari denied these allegations.
The plea said that defamatory the content insinuates corruption, conflict of interest and abuse of office by suggesting that his family has “derived undue pecuniary benefits from E20. As per the plea, these imputations are false and amount to “documentary falsity,” since the programme is run by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.