The Bombay High Court has stepped in to shield actor Shilpa Shetty from the growing menace of AI-driven impersonation, directing multiple online platforms to remove deepfakes and other material misusing her image and identity.
In a chamber order, Justice Sharmila U Deshmukh restrained nearly 28 entities — including e-commerce portals and AI content platforms — from exploiting Shetty’s name, likeness, photographs and other personality attributes without permission.
The Court noted that several online sellers were using Shetty’s persona to promote or pass off their products as being linked to the actor, creating a misleading commercial association.
The judge found that, at first glance, the material placed before the Court suggested clear unauthorised use of the actor’s identity. Such conduct, the order observed, amounted to passing off goods by falsely implying a connection with the celebrity.
A more troubling dimension emerged from websites that generate artificial-intelligence content. According to the Court, some of these platforms had enabled users to create deepfakes and other AI-generated visuals featuring Shetty without her consent.
The Court described this phenomenon as the most disturbing element of the dispute. AI-generated pornographic and obscene material using the actor’s likeness, the judge noted, had been circulating on publicly accessible platforms. Such content not only damages reputation but also intrudes upon an individual’s privacy and dignity — rights protected under Article 21 of the Constitution.
The order stressed that public figures remain entitled to control how their identity is commercially used. Their popularity cannot become an open invitation for digital exploitation.
Allowing such material to remain online purely for commercial gain, the Court said, would have no justification.
Intermediary platforms were instructed to remove or disable access to URLs flagged by Shetty within eight days of receiving notice. At the same time, they retain the liberty to approach the Court if they believe a particular takedown request is unwarranted.
With the order, the Court effectively placed a protective boundary around the actor’s digital identity — a signal that celebrity personas cannot be freely mined by algorithms or online marketplaces.
