Naga Chaitanya moves Delhi HC to protect personality rights against explicit AI content

Telugu filmstar Naga Chaitanya has filed a case in the Delhi High Court seeking relief from unauthorised use of his identity and personality rights because of the proliferation of deepfake videos and defaming content. It seems that Naga Chaitanya filed the suit as a result of defamation of his image, voice and name due to the use of the AI tool to produce explicit videos and voice cloning technology. In addition, his name is used to sell unauthorised goods on several websites.

Actor Naga Chaitanya seeks legal action over defamatory claims and unauthorised deepfakes

Apart from such manipulations, the lawyer, Vaibhav Gaggar, drew attention to the problem of defamatory videos that are posted against his personal life. According to him, numerous websites are using Chaitanya’s name as an explicit search term to boost their rating. Furthermore, the lawyer noted the dissemination of defaming information according to which Chaitanya is alleged to have been involved in cheating his wife Samantha Ruth Prabhu and ruining her career. Referring to online abuse as trolling, the lawyer called it a serious violation of his client’s reputation. Chaitanya and Samantha got married in 2017 and divorced in 2021; meanwhile, Chaitanya has been married to actress Sobhita Dhulipala since then.

During the hearing, Justice Jyoti Singh noted the troubling extent of the harassment. While acknowledging that public figures are inherently more vulnerable to scrutiny, Jyoti remarked that such exposure must have its limitations. The court was also presented with examples of unauthorised merchandise and borderline infringing links.

In an attempt to get the court to impose a dynamic order restraining the constant production of fake audio/visual content by these individuals, Chaitanya is ready to stand up against the menace of anonymity online. The court has already summoned the accused and said that they would pass interim orders.

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