‘Act on Salman Khan’s suit on personality rights protection within 3 days ‘: Delhi HC to social media platforms

Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, in the November 27 order, observed that celebrities are frequently approaching the court directly without availing the statutory mechanism. This practice, therefore, undermines “the objective of IT Intermediary Rules”, that is, the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021, which provides a mechanism for content takedown by reporting it to the social media intermediary. It also provides for a grievance officer who is responsible for addressing such complaints.

The court had noted, “The intent of the statutory mechanism is to provide an effective remedial mechanism to the complainant as well as to reduce burden on the judicial system.”

Referring to this order, which was also subsequently cited in a similar case involving actor Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, popularly known as NTR Junior, on December 8, the Delhi HC on Thursday directed Khan to pursue a similar course of action with the social intermediaries first.

Prior to the order in Devgn’s case, the court would pass an ex parte order instructing social media intermediaries to remove objectionable content from websites. For non-social media intermediary entities, the court on Thursday indicated that it would pass interim orders prohibiting unauthorised use.

In his lawsuit, Salman Khan sought protection for his personality rights, while objecting to unauthorised use of his name and likeness in merchandise sold on e-marketplaces and websites, as well as his trademarks being perpetuated through social media platforms such as Telegram and others.

Several celebrities have moved the Delhi High Court since September this year seeking protection of their personality rights and requesting takedown orders for unauthorised use of their images, persona, and likeness for commercial purposes. Apart from challenging such use for unauthorisedly selling merchandise and the use of chatbots, the celebrities have also objected to the use of AI deepfakes for inappropriate and unauthorised content.

Additionally, several lawsuits challenge the use of memes and GIFs. Thus far, the court has refrained from issuing ex parte injunctions without hearing from the platforms hosting such memes and GIFs.

Among the celebrities who have been before the Delhi High Court are Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Karan Johar, Kumar Sanu, Telugu actor Nagarjuna, spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Sankar, Ajay Devgn, and NTR Junior.