Nitin Gadkari can sue Meta, X over AI deepfakes on E20 rules: Bombay High Court

The Union Ministries of Electronics and Information Technology and Telecommunications have also been named as respondents.

In the suit, Gadkari said its purpose was not to prevent public discussion or criticism of his actions or government policies.

“The purpose and object of filing the suit is not to curtail or prevent the public at large from engaging in discussion, debate, analysis or fair, just and bona fide criticism of any decision taken by the plaintiff himself or by his office,” the plea said.

It added that Gadkari “does not seek to stifle or restrain fair criticism, dissent, debate or bona fide expression of opinion concerning his public life, governmental policies or official functions.”

However, the suit argues that the content in question is “ex facie false, fabricated, malicious, abusive and grossly defamatory”, and that the deepfake videos amount to an unauthorised use of Gadkari’s personality and publicity rights without his consent.

According to the plea, unknown persons circulated posts and AI-generated videos falsely portraying Gadkari as personally responsible for the EBP and E20 initiatives and alleging that he and his family had profited from them.

The suit says the allegations are false, malicious and intended to create the misleading impression that Gadkari misused public office for private gain, causing irreparable harm to his reputation.

It seeks directions to the defendants to remove, disable and stop the circulation of the allegedly defamatory and manipulated content.

The case comes after the BJP’s Nagpur city social media cell chief filed a police complaint against several social media influencers and content creators over posts allegedly targeting Gadkari in connection with the ethanol-blended fuel controversy.