MUMBAI, JULY 03, 2026
The Bombay High Court on Friday addressed the escalating legal challenges posed by generative artificial intelligence, directing Bollywood actor Preity Zinta and major tech intermediaries to mutually formulate a calibrated, practical protocol for removing deepfakes and unauthorized AI-generated content.
The single-judge bench of Justice Madhav Jamdar was hearing a civil suit filed by Zinta seeking a permanent injunction against the proliferation of morphed images, deepfake videos, and chatbot-style interactive platforms utilizing her likeness across the internet (Preity Zinta v. Google LLC & Ors.).
Escalating Threat of High-Quality Deepfakes
Appearing for the plaintiff, Senior Advocate Venkatesh Dhond contended that the technological sophistication of deepfakes has rapidly advanced, making it increasingly difficult for the public to distinguish between authentic and synthesized media. The suit names several intermediaries, including Google LLC and Meta Platforms Inc., alongside domain name registrars and generic "John Doe" (Ashok Kumar) defendants to target anonymous creators."
The plaintiff pressed for urgent ex parte ad-interim orders directing immediate removal of specific URLs and a blanket dynamic injunction to restrain unknown entities from hosting unauthorized content violating the actor's personality rights and right to privacy.
Intermediaries Resist Proactive Monitoring Mandates
Counsel representing Google and Meta clarified that the platforms maintain no objection to removing specific, verified links containing obscene, defamatory, or heavily morphed content once they are explicitly identified by the plaintiff.
However, the tech giants strongly opposed any sweeping judicial mandate requiring them to proactively monitor, filter, or pre-screen user-generated content. They argued that blanket monitoring obligations fundamentally alter their statutory safe harbor protections and risk suppressing legitimate online content. It was further submitted that upon internal review, certain URLs flagged in the suit papers did not contain infringing material.
Concurrently, appearing domain name registrars argued that their technical architecture is restricted to domain delegation, rendering them incapable of moderating or isolating specific URLs hosted on independent social media platforms.
Balance Between Personality Rights and Digital Speech
Recognizing the prima facie merit in Zinta’s plea for protection against digital identity theft, Justice Jamdar observed that judicial intervention must be carefully balanced. The Court emphasized that any anti-deepfake injunction must remain tightly targeted to protect individual personality rights without inadvertently causing over-blocking or disrupting lawful digital discourse.
"Parties must confer to evolve a practical protocol under which genuinely objectionable content can be taken down while genuine links are left undisturbed," the Court remarked.
Rather than imposing a unilateral mechanism, the Court directed legal teams from both sides to collaborate on a balanced, step-by-step framework to process takedown requests effectively and minimize enforcement friction.
The matter is scheduled for further hearing on Monday, July 6, 2026, when the parties are expected to present their consensus protocol before the bench for formal orders.
Key Legal Issues Under Review
| Legal Doctrine | Core Argument in Dispute |
| Personality Rights | Scope of an individual's right to control the commercial and digital exploitation of their name, voice, and likeness against unauthorized AI synthesis. |
| Intermediary Liability | Whether tech platforms can be forced to proactively filter AI content, or if compliance is limited to "reactive" takedowns under safe harbor rules. |
| John Doe Orders | The enforceability of dynamic, ex-parte injunctions against anonymous, untraceable global creators distributing synthetic media. |
Discription: MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has directed Bollywood actor Preity Zinta and major tech intermediaries, including Google and Meta, to collaborate on a practical protocol for removing unauthorized AI-generated deepfakes. Hearing a suit seeking a permanent injunction against morphed images, videos, and interactive AI chatbots utilizing her likeness (Preity Zinta v. Google LLC & Ors.), Justice Madhav Jamdar emphasized balancing personality rights with freedom of speech. While the plaintiff urged for urgent ex-parte and "John Doe" orders against anonymous creators to halt the spread of highly sophisticated deepfakes, the tech platforms resisted any blanket mandates requiring proactive content monitoring or pre-screening. The Court ordered all parties to devise a calibrated, targeted mechanism to isolate and take down objectionable content without disrupting legitimate online links. The matter resumes on July 6.