Gujarat HC Sends Notices To Google, Meta, X Over Deepfake

The Gujarat High Court (HC) has issued notices to global tech giants Meta, Google, X, Reddit and Scribd in a case pertaining to the spread of AI-generated content hosted on these platforms. 

Hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a robust regulatory framework to curb the spread of deepfake content, a division bench of chief justice Sunita Agarwal and justice DN Ray, directed the aforementioned intermediaries to file their responses by next hearing which is slated for May 8.

The petition flagged the growing circulation of AI-generated videos online, warning that the “widespread creation and circulation of AI generated videos on digital platforms” poses a “serious threat to public order and functioning of a healthy democracy.”

It also sought an “immediate requirement to curb the creation and use of such AI deepfakes”, noting that such content can penetrate the social fabric and lead to “irreversible situations.” The PIL also argued that the existing legal framework, including the Information Technology Act, 2000, and provisions under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), is inadequate to effectively regulate the creation and dissemination of such content.

During the hearing, both the Central and the Gujarat government maintained that the legal framework is already in place, but highlighted gaps in enforcement due to delays and non-compliance by intermediaries.

In their affidavits, the Centre and the Gujarat government flagged repeated delays, procedural hurdles and non-compliance by certain platforms in responding to lawful notices.

Taking note of these submissions, the HC observed that the core issue lies in implementation rather than the absence of regulation. “The issues which need consideration… is about the strict enforcement and uniform implementation of the existing statutory regime,” the bench said.

In its interim directions, the court asked the intermediaries to ensure onboarding onto the government’s SAHYOG portal to enable real-time coordination with law enforcement agencies for time-bound takedown of unlawful content.

The SAHYOG portal has been operational since October 2024 to facilitate coordinated and time-bound action against unlawful content by connecting law enforcement agencies with intermediaries on a single platform.

The union ministry of home affairs noted that while some platforms such as Meta and Google have improved compliance, others have lagged in onboarding and responsiveness.

“Although partial action has been reported… the alarming low rate of formal responses results in lack of meaningful cooperation with the lawfully issued directions,” the ministry said, adding , “Such conduct not only amounts to breach of enhanced due diligence obligations… but also severely impedes the ability of law enforcement agencies to ensure timely removal… and to carry out effective investigations.”

The Centre specifically flagged non-responsiveness by X, stating that out of 94 intimations issued between 2024 and 2026, formal responses were received in only 13 cases. 

Notably, in January, MeitY pulled up X and directed it to remove obscene and unlawful imagery generated using its AI chatbot Grok, warning of legal action for non-compliance. 

Grok has gained notoriety because of the content generated by it, which often are derogatory deepfake images of women. The ministry had sought a detailed report on takedowns, user-level actions and compliance measures back then.

The development comes amid rising scrutiny of tech platforms over the circulation of AI-generated content. To address these concerns, the central government amended the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, bringing AI-generated content under India’s regulatory ambit. 

The updated rules, effective February 20, 2026, define “synthetically generated information” and mandate clear labelling of such content.

Earlier in March, the MeitY also pushed to tighten compliance timelines for these companies. The proposed changes, issued under Section 87 of the IT Act in March, mandate social media intermediaries to “comply with clarifications, advisories, orders, directions, standard operating procedures, codes of practice or guidelines” issued in relation to the implementation of the rules. 

The proposed framework also bids to tighten content takedown obligations for these companies. Platforms hosting information that may be used to “commit unlawful acts” would be required to remove such content within three hours of receiving government directions.

The MeitY extended the deadline for submitting feedback and comments on the recently unveiled draft amendments to IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. Stakeholders can submit feedback to the amendments till April 29 from April 12 earlier.

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