Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has received permission from the Bombay High Court to file a civil suit against Meta, X Corp, Google and other parties over alleged defamatory posts and AI-generated deepfake content circulating online.
The content, according to Gadkari’s plea, falsely linked him and his family to the Ethanol Blended Petrol programme and the E20 initiative, while allegedly suggesting that they had benefited financially from the policy.
Gadkari has maintained that the EBP and E20 initiatives are administered by the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and that he has no role in their policy decision-making.
The proposed suit seeks the removal and disabling of the allegedly defamatory and manipulated content. Gadkari has also clarified that the legal action is not intended to restrict fair criticism, public debate or bona fide discussion of government policies.
The case highlights growing concerns over the use of artificial intelligence to create and circulate deepfake content and the legal challenges faced by public figures and digital platforms in tackling online misinformation.
