Ahmedabad, February 24 The Gujarat High Court issued notices to the central and state governments on Tuesday regarding a public interest litigation (PIL) concerning the misuse of artificial intelligence to create deepfakes and synthetically generated content targeting constitutional authorities.
A division bench, comprising Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice DN Ray, also directed the Gujarat DGP to file a response, stating that questions regarding issuing notices to intermediary platforms like Meta, Google, X, Reddit, and Scribd would be considered after receiving responses from the governments.
The PIL, filed by advocate Vikas Vijay Nair, sought legal reforms and regulatory directions to protect constitutional and statutory authorities against the misuse of AI in the creation and circulation of fake and manipulated videos and photographs.
The petitioner requested the high court to direct the authorities, as well as tech giants Meta, Google, and X, to immediately prohibit the publication, transmission, and communication of all AI-generated photographs, videos, and digital content of any constitutional authorities on all social media sites.
It also sought the mandatory use of an "AI-generated data" watermark on all such content, as well as strict, real-time prohibition on the circulation and removal of any such content.
The PIL requested the authorities to jointly frame standard operating procedures (SOPs) for all police stations and specialized crime units in Gujarat regarding AI-created content, as well as directions to respondent intermediary platforms like Meta, Google, X, Reddit, and Scribd to strictly comply with statutory obligations related to due diligence, content labeling, and traceability, etc.
The PIL highlighted the misuse of deepfake technology to generate videos that mimic real voices, facial expressions, and body movements with startling accuracy.
According to the petition, the public often struggles to distinguish between genuine and manipulated content, resulting in confusion, reputational damage, and erosion of public trust.
Appearing for the state government, Advocate General Kamal Trivedi informed the bench that the issue deserved serious consideration and submitted that there has been terrible and widespread misuse of online content through deepfakes and synthetically generated material, causing extensive and irreparable damage.
The AG also cited the international position on the issue, noting that several countries have introduced stringent laws to regulate artificial intelligence and the misuse of deepfakes.
The matter will next come up for hearing on March 20.
