Bombay High Court grants interim relief to Shruti Haasan over AI deepfakes

The Bombay High Court has granted interim relief to actor Shruti Haasan, protecting her against the unauthorized use of her image, likeness, and voice through AI-generated deepfakes and manipulated content.

Haasan filed the suit seeking a permanent injunction and Rs 15 crore in damages against multiple entities and unidentified individuals. She alleged that her likeness was being exploited through sexually explicit and pornographic deepfake videos and images, as well as unauthorized commercial endorsements and merchandise. The actor argued that her personality and publicity rights are constitutionally protected.

Justice Madhav Jamdar observed that the circulation of such material could cause “irreparable injury” to Haasan’s reputation and commercial interests, noting that monetary compensation alone may not address the widespread nature of online replication. The court directed the removal of flagged content and noted that some defendants failed to appear, resulting in ad-interim injunctions against them. Lawyers for other defendants stated they would remove content upon receiving specific URLs from Haasan’s legal team.