Shashi Tharoor troubled by AI and deepfake videos, reaches Delhi High Court to save personality rights

New Delhi: In the era of social media and artificial intelligence, the threat of fake videos and morphed content is continuously increasing. Now Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has approached the Delhi High Court regarding this issue. Tharoor has alleged that his name, photograph, voice and personality are being used without his permission. He has demanded from the court to remove all such deepfakes and AI-based content which are being spread on the internet and other platforms. The hearing of this case is to be held on May 8 before the bench of Justice Mini Pushkarna.

Shashi Tharoor has said in his petition that his personality and public identity are being misused. He claims that many online platforms and unknown people are using his image in videos and digital content with which he has no connection. Tharoor has appealed to the court to immediately remove such content and to ban future use of his name or face without his permission. He has also demanded that the court issue clear guidelines to the parties concerned in this matter.

Increased concern about deepfakes and AI content

In recent years, it has become very easy to create fake videos and photos through deepfake technology and AI tools. Many times the voices and faces of celebrities are used to spread misleading or false information. Tharoor’s petition is also linked to this growing threat. He says that such content can not only affect his image but can also send a wrong message among the people. This petition has been filed on his behalf through Nikhil Narendran, partner and senior lawyer of law firm Trilegal.

Many big personalities have already reached the court

With this step, Shashi Tharoor has now joined the list of famous personalities who have taken the help of court to protect their publicity and personality rights. Earlier, Amitabh Bachchan and Anil Kapoor had also reached court in similar cases. Both the artists had taken legal action to stop the misuse of their name, voice and picture. The Delhi High Court had issued an important order in those cases, prohibiting the use of his identity in any advertisement, merchandise or AI-generated content without permission.

Growing legal awareness regarding public identity

Experts believe that the importance of personality rights is increasing rapidly in the digital era. Due to social media platforms and AI technology, any person’s picture or voice can be misused within a few minutes. For this reason, many public figures are now taking recourse to the court to protect their identity and image. Shashi Tharoor’s petition is also being considered a part of this increasing legal awareness.

Tharoor is a writer, diplomat and experienced politician.

Shashi Tharoor, Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, is not only a politician but also a famous writer and former diplomat. Before joining politics, he served in the United Nations for about 30 years and reached the important post of Under-Secretary-General.

In the Government of India, he has also held the responsibility as Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Human Resource Development. Tharoor is quite popular for his impressive English and excellent speech style. Apart from this, his books ‘An Era of Darkness’ and ‘Why I Am a Hindu’ have also been much discussed.