Preity Zinta has moved the Bombay High Court seeking an injunction against the circulation of AI-generated deepfake videos, morphed images and other unauthorized digital content depicting her. The case was filed as “Preity Zinta v. Google LLC & Ors.”When the matter came up on July 3, Justice Madhav Jamdar indicated that he would issue an order on July 6, after directing the parties to work together on practical mechanisms for removing the allegedly infringing content from online platforms.In his lawsuit, Zinta names Google and Meta as defendants, as well as a number of intermediaries, including domain name registrars and some specific infringers. She claimed that AI-generated deepfake videos, manipulated images, and chatbot-style interactions depicting her are being hosted on various online platforms. Senior advocate Venkatesh Dhond, who appeared on behalf of Zinta, argued that AI-generated deepfakes are becoming increasingly sophisticated. He asked the court to grant emergency ex parte relief directing certain websites and intermediaries to immediately remove all infringing content mentioned in the petition.Mr. Dondo also requested a John Doe order against unidentified infringers and sought a broad injunction prohibiting anyone from publishing or distributing unauthorized AI-generated content featuring Zinta.Counsel representing Google and Meta informed the court that they have no objection to removing the URLs identified by the plaintiffs that contain deformed or obscene content. However, it opposed sweeping instructions requiring intermediaries to actively monitor and remove potentially infringing content. They also argued that some of the URLs reported in the lawsuit did not contain objectionable content.The domain name registrar submitted that its role is limited to registering domain names and that it has no control over URLs that direct users to content hosted on social media platforms.Judge Jamdar said that any relief granted by courts must be carefully tailored to ensure that objectionable content is removed without affecting legitimate online content. While expressing the view that this case warrants protective relief, the judge directed all parties to cooperate on workable protocols that facilitate the removal of truly infringing content while protecting legitimate content. The matter is scheduled to be heard again on July 6.
