Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], August 5 : The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed social media giants Meta and X Corp to immediately take down all content, including Artificial Intelligence (AI)-generated material, that is allegedly defamatory toward Union Minister Nitin Gadkari regarding the government's ethanol-blended petrol policy.
Speaking to ANI after the hearing, Sandeep S Ladda, the advocate representing Nitin Gadkari, stated that the court took a serious view of how digital platforms are being used to circulate deepfakes and misleading information.
"A hearing took place regarding the lawsuit filed by Union Minister...Lawyers representing Meta, which operates Facebook and Instagram, and X Corp (formerly Twitter) appeared before the court. We explained to the court the nature of the defamatory content related to the E20 ethanol blending policy and why such claims were defamatory. The court prima facie agreed that the content was defamatory and questioned Meta and the other platforms about the absence of an effective mechanism to address such issues," Ladda said.
The legal team representing the Minister pointed out that the current regulatory environment allows for the "casual" misuse of social media to tarnish reputations without adequate safeguards.
"We pointed out that social media platforms are being misused almost casually to damage reputations, while there is no adequate system in place to prevent such misuse. Recognising that the E20-related content appeared prima facie to be deepfake and defamatory, the court directed the platforms to provide details of the individuals who uploaded the content and ordered the immediate removal of such material," the advocate added.
Lawyers for Meta (which operates Facebook and Instagram) and X Corp (formerly Twitter) appeared before the court during the proceedings. The court expressed concern over the lack of internal checks to prevent the spread of such deepfake-driven misinformation.
The court also directed the platforms to provide details of the individuals who uploaded the disparaging material and ordered the removal of any similar content posted even after the filing of the suit.
"The court, while hearing a lawsuit filed by the Minister, also directed the platforms to provide details of the individuals who uploaded the disparaging material and ordered the removal of any similar content posted even after the filing of the suit," Ladda added.
This comes after Union Minister Nitin Gadkari approached the Bombay High Court on July 27 against social media posts linking him and his family to alleged E20-related business gains.
According to Gadkari's lawsuit filed in the Bombay High Court, the disputed content on social media includes posts, deepfake pictures and videos, among others, allegedly linking him and his family to profits from the E20 ethanol blending programme.
The lawsuit filed by him also emphasises that the ethanol blending policy is being administered by the Petroleum Ministry.
The Bombay High Court allowed Gadkari to file a civil suit against Meta and other social media platforms, as well as unidentified entities allegedly being used to spread misinformation against Gadkari and his family.
The development comes amid growing public scrutiny over ethanol-blended fuel, particularly E20 petrol, following claims on social media that the higher ethanol blend had caused performance issues and damage in some vehicles.