The Punjab and Haryana high court has issued notices to several union ministries, including the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Ministry of Home Affairs, on a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking urgent regulatory and legislative action to address the growing threat of deepfake technology and artificial intelligence (AI)-generated synthetic media in India.
The court also issued notices to Google India Private Limited, Meta Platforms Inc. and X Corporation, asking them to respond to the matter.
According to the petition, deepfakes, AI-generated videos, audio and images that closely imitate real individuals, pose serious risks to privacy, democratic processes, financial systems and national security. The plea argued that India’s current legal framework, including the IT Act, 2000, the IT Rules, 2021 and provisions under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, is inadequate to deal with the unique challenges posed by synthetic media.
The petitioner claimed that India recorded a 550 per cent increase in deepfake incidents between 2019 and 2024, with projected financial losses expected to reach Rs 700 billion by 2025. The technology is increasingly being used to generate non-consensual intimate images, manipulate political narratives and commit financial fraud through voice cloning. The petition further stated that manipulated content targeting women causes severe psychological harm and reputational damage, while political deepfakes during election campaigns have the potential to mislead voters and weaken democratic institutions.
Referring to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the PIL alleged that AI-generated content played a notable role in campaign outreach, including the use of over 50 million AI-generated voice calls along with deepfake videos of political leaders and digitally recreated speeches of deceased politicians.
It also argued that the advisory issued by MeitY in March 2024 on deepfakes was recommendatory in nature and lacked statutory backing, limiting its effectiveness in preventing misuse.
The petitioner has urged the high court to direct the union government and regulators to introduce measures such as a comprehensive national law governing deepfake technology, blocking applications and platforms that enable malicious deepfake creation, and mandatory watermarking and labelling of AI-generated content.
The plea also called for deployment of AI detection systems by major social media platforms and the issuance of specific guidelines by the election commission of India to regulate AI-generated political content during elections.
