Bombay HC Flags Alarming Deepfakes, Grants Akshay Kumar Interim Protection

The Bombay High Court has expressed concern over the increasingly realistic nature of deepfake images and videos, granting interim protection to actor Akshay Kumar regarding his personality rights.

A bench headed by Justice Arif Doctor described the sophistication of AI-generated deepfakes as “truly alarming,” noting that in many cases, it is nearly impossible to distinguish these manipulated images and videos from genuine content.

The court highlighted that both images and videos can be so deceptively morphed that they may falsely depict individuals, potentially causing reputational harm and misuse of personality rights.

The order, made available on Thursday, underscores the judiciary’s growing awareness of challenges posed by artificial intelligence in protecting personal identity and privacy in the digital age.