Why Delhi High Court Ordered Meta, X, E-Commerce Sites To Take Down Fake Quotes On Sunil Gavaskar, Merchandise — What Are ‘Personality Rights’?

The Delhi High Court has instructed the main social media platforms and e-commerce sites to take down posts and listings that falsely quoted former Indian cricket captain Sunil Gavaskar and sold unauthorised merchandise in his name. The court’s decision was made by Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, who granted the interim injunction in the suit that was on the verge of affecting the use of his name and likeness online and so risking his reputation, especially as a broadcaster and cricket commentator. The court forbad the publication of composed remarks pertaining to Gavaskar and including even fake ones that were critical of other cricket figures, as well as the unauthorised commercial exploitation of his identity.

What Is This Case About?

According to the High Court’s ruling, Meta and X Corp are obligated to take down the URLs specified by Gavaskar’s legal advisors within 72 hours and the same applies to online sellers who are selling unauthorized products with his name or picture. At a previous hearing, the court had told Gavaskar to send the URLs of the offending sites to Google, Meta, and X who are viewed as intermediaries, and those platforms were then to operate under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. The court also allowed Gavaskar to alter his lawsuit to include not just the companies but also individuals that are responsible for the unlawful content.

What Did The Attorney of Sunil Gavaskar State?

The attorney of Gavaskar stated that among the false content there were made up quotations concerning cricket which, if taken as true, would jeopardize his trustworthiness and status in the cricket world. Moreover, the lawsuit mentioned the solicitation of so called ‘fake autographed’ goods and photographs online as examples of misleading buyers and taking advantage of the player’s popularity without permission. The court’s temporary order aims to prevent any such misuse during the waiting period for a more comprehensive hearing on the merits of Gavaskar’s claim to protective personality rights, a legal concept that recognizes a public figure’s power over the commercial and reputational use of their name, image, and likeness.

Other Stars Who Faced The Same

The legal suit that Gavaskar initiated is also a reflection of the growing tendency to protect key personalities’ rights in India through the judiciary by public figures. Over the past few months, numerous famous people, including actors like Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and others, have approached the Delhi High Court with the request for prohibitory orders against the unauthorized use of their identities, especially in light of the digital impersonation, deepfake videos, and unlicensed merchandise incidents occurring on a large scale. The Indian judiciary now relies on a combination of privacy, defamation, and intellectual property doctrines for granting personality rights protections, as there is no separate law in place to regulate them.

Professionals are indicating that the rise of content generated by AI and impersonation to a greater extent than ever before online has made celebrities even more worried when it comes to misleading or fake materials as they could easily lead to a brand’s depreciation or even worse harm to its reputation. Courts have been providing interim measures that have the effect of requiring platforms and intermediaries to take very quick actions once the content is flagged, in this way they try to balance the freedom of expression with the right of the individuals to control the commercial and public usage of their image. Gavaskar’s case is a remarkable example of a sportsperson being the first one in this trend of personality rights litigation, indicating that no matter if it is through fake quotes, images or merchandise, identity misuse of a public figure is going to be dealt with legally and not tolerated without consequences.

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