The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed Meta and X Corp to immediately remove allegedly defamatory content, including AI-generated deepfakes, targeting Union Minister Nitin Gadkari over the Centre's E20 ethanol-blended petrol policy.
The court also asked the social media platforms to disclose details of those who uploaded the material, taking a prima facie view that the content appeared to be defamatory.
The directions came during the hearing of a civil suit filed by Gadkari, who has alleged that social media posts, deepfake images and videos falsely linked him and his family to financial gains from the government's E20 ethanol blending programme.
Appearing for the Union Minister, advocate Sandeep S. Ladda told ANI that the court expressed concern over the growing misuse of social media platforms to circulate deepfakes and misinformation without adequate safeguards.
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Read Now The Age of Anger "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.
According to the advocate, the court directed Meta and X to immediately remove the disputed content, including any similar material uploaded after the filing of the suit, and furnish details of the individuals responsible for posting it.
Ladda argued that the current regulatory framework allows social media platforms to be misused "almost casually" to damage reputations while offering limited mechanisms to curb such abuse.
The court also questioned the platforms over the absence of effective internal systems to deal with AI-generated misinformation and defamatory content.
The proceedings stem from a lawsuit Gadkari filed in the Bombay High Court on July 27 after social media posts allegedly claimed that he and members of his family stood to benefit financially from the government's E20 ethanol blending policy.
The suit contends that the claims are false and misleading, pointing out that the ethanol blending programme is administered by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, not the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways headed by Gadkari.
The High Court has permitted Gadkari to pursue the civil suit against Meta, X Corp and unidentified persons allegedly responsible for creating and circulating the disputed content.
The case comes at a time when E20 petrol has attracted widespread public attention amid social media claims linking higher ethanol blends to vehicle performance issues, allegations that have fuelled online misinformation and triggered the present legal battle.
(With inputs from ANI)