New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday issued notices to Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) convenor Abhijeet Dipke, and spokespersons Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka in a petition filed by a woman alleging that her morphed images with Prime Minister Narendra Modi were circulated during the July Gen-Z protests at Jantar Mantar.
The high court also directed Meta to remove the alleged objectionable content from social media platforms after receiving relevant web links of the images.
“This is extraordinary position in which the matter is not of one lady, it is a matter about the Prime Minister of the country. I will make sure that the Delhi Police is sensitive,” Justice Girish Kathpalia said, as reported by Bar and Bench.
The court directed Delhi Police to provide complete protection to the woman, who had alleged receiving threats following the circulation of images, ANI reported. The high court instructed that the petitioner’s address must be kept confidential to ensure her safety.
The court listed the matter for further hearing on October 14.
The woman had accused CJP leaders of morphing and circulating her deepfake images.
“During recent protests held by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, respondents No. 2 to 5 (CJP leaders) along with their active accomplices-unauthorisedly harvested the personal photograph of the petitioner and utilised Artificial Intelligence (AI) face-swapping tools to morph her face,” the plea stated, according to PTI.
Advocate Umesh Chandra Sharma, who represented the complainant, said despite an FIR being registered, no steps were taken to fix accountability or ensure removal of the viral deepfakes.
