Janhvi Kapoor Takes a Stand Against Deepfakes; Delhi High Court Weighs In on Fan Page Restrictions
Janhvi Kapoor has taken a significant step to protect her personality rights by approaching the Delhi High Court. This move comes in response to the emergence of objectionable content, impersonation accounts, and AI-generated deepfake images that misuse her name and likeness online. During a hearing on Tuesday, Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani expressed a willingness to issue an ex parte ad-interim order aimed at removing material deemed clearly obscene and profane.
Court’s Consideration of Personality Rights
The court raised important questions regarding the extent of protection that could be granted. Justice Bhambhani emphasized the need to balance the safeguarding of a celebrity’s personality rights with the principles of legitimate criticism, satire, and freedom of expression. This balance is crucial, as it determines how far the law can go in protecting public figures from misuse of their image while still allowing for artistic and critical discourse.
Kapoor’s lawyer, Advocate Asav Rajan, articulated the actor’s concerns about the proliferation of pornographic content, fake profiles impersonating her, and the use of AI-generated images. He highlighted that misleading information was being circulated on Meta-owned platforms and X, further complicating the issue. The court’s deliberations reflect a growing recognition of the challenges posed by digital impersonation and the need for legal frameworks to adapt to these modern dilemmas.
Scope of Protection and Commercial Exploitation
In her petition, Kapoor seeks to impose restrictions on the third-party commercial exploitation of her name, image, and other elements associated with her persona. Rajan pointed out that certain fan pages have blurred the lines between legitimate fan engagement and the commercial use of her personality traits, often combining them with obscene or profane content.
Justice Bhambhani indicated that the court could consider three main categories for protection: material that is clearly pornographic or obscene, content that seeks to commercially monetize Kapoor’s personality rights, and the use of her likeness for selling merchandise or promoting services. However, the judge also cautioned against treating every fan page as an infringement, recognizing that some may serve a satirical or critical purpose.
Legal Proceedings and Future Steps
Kapoor’s legal team submitted over 4,000 URLs containing the disputed material for the court’s review. Representing Meta platforms, Advocate Varun Pathak contended that not all the URLs could be classified as uniformly obscene or profane. He acknowledged that clearly objectionable content could be removed but requested a more nuanced approach to the broader request.
The court has instructed Kapoor’s legal team to categorize the material appropriately before making a decision on the scope of the order. Justice Bhambhani warned against an overly broad interpretation of personality rights, emphasizing that such claims should not be used to suppress legitimate expression or shield alleged wrongdoing. The matter will be revisited once the disputed content is categorized, with the court poised to determine the extent of protection that can be granted to Janhvi Kapoor’s personality rights.
Observer Voice is the one stop site for National, International news, Sports, Editor’s Choice, Art/culture contents, Quotes and much more. We also cover historical contents. Historical contents includes World History, Indian History, and what happened today. The website also covers Entertainment across the India and World.
