NEW DELHI, Sept 25: The Delhi High Court ordered social media platform Meta Platforms to immediately remove within 24 hours an objectionable and doctored photograph depicting a woman alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The court simultaneously issued notices to leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party, including Saurav Das, Abhijit Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka, and Ratna Singh, following allegations that they manipulated and circulated the explicitly morphed images.
Observing the gravity of the matter, the court noted that the situation involves extraordinary circumstances given the involvement of both an individual citizen and the country’s Prime Minister. Justice Girish Kathpalia emphasized that the bench would closely monitor the response of law enforcement to ensure a sensitive and swift investigation, directing the Delhi Police to submit a status report within a week and grant full security to the woman after she reported receiving life threats.
The petitioner submitted that her personal photograph was harvested without authorization during recent political demonstrations at Jantar Mantar and processed using artificial intelligence face-swapping tools. Legal counsel representing the woman stated that although a formal First Information Report was lodged, urgent judicial intervention was needed to secure the removal of viral links across digital platforms and hold those responsible accountable.
