Mumbai: The Bombay High Court granted interim relief to Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday, directing major social media platforms to immediately remove online posts, videos, and artificial intelligence-generated deepfakes targeting him over the central government’s ethanol-blended fuel policy. A single-judge bench presided over by Justice Arif Doctor characterized the disputed digital content as completely “vile, abusive, obscene, and defamatory,” ruling that such posts should have no place on public digital platforms accessible to all sections of society, including young people. The court issued explicit directives to tech giants Meta Platforms Inc., X Corp, and Google LLC to forthwith ensure the removal of all flagged URLs and videos.
During the hearing, Justice Doctor questioned the legal representatives of the social media intermediaries on whether their platforms maintain automated mechanisms to identify and take down vulgar or abusive content voluntarily without forcing aggrieved individuals to seek judicial intervention. The court noted that with advanced technological capabilities at their disposal, digital platforms ought to deploy automated triggers to flag and delete defamatory material or deepfake manipulation promptly. The bench further clarified that if similar manipulated or AI-generated posts resurface in the future, the minister may directly approach the respective platforms, which are required to take immediate action upon receiving notice.
The interim order stems from a civil defamation suit filed by Gadkari seeking 11 crore rupees in damages against tech platforms and unidentified online users for circulating fabricated content. The petition highlighted that several manipulated videos, reels, and synthetic voice clones falsely portrayed the Union Minister as being personally responsible for the E20 ethanol-blending policy and wrongfully alleged that he and his family derived financial benefits from private ethanol ventures. Gadkari’s plea clarified that the national Ethanol Blending Programme is administered exclusively by the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, emphasizing that while legitimate public debate and bona fide policy criticism remain protected, false allegations insinuating corruption and conflict of interest cross the boundary of lawful speech. The High Court adjourned the proceedings for four weeks, directing the respondent tech companies to file their formal affidavits in response to the suit.
