- Advertisement -
The Delhi High Court has granted partial legal relief to Bollywood star Janhvi Kapoor by ordering the immediate removal of online pornographic, obscene, and unauthorized commercial content using her identity. However, the court firmly refused to impose a blanket restriction or complete ban on fan pages, social media fan clubs, and critical commentary. Presiding over the personality rights lawsuit, Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani agreed to issue interim orders targeting explicit deepfakes, lascivious images, fake booking services, and unauthorized commercial merchandise using the actor’s name and likeness. The court noted that while protection against obvious obscenity and illegal monetization is necessary, sweeping attempts to shut down all fan accounts risk trampling on fundamental rights to digital expression and satire.
During the court proceedings, Janhvi Kapoor’s legal team presented a suit covering more than four thousand social media links and online posts. The actor’s representatives argued that rogue accounts, impersonation profiles, and deepfake tools were misusing her personality traits for improper commercial gain and distributing profane content. In response, Justice Bhambhani requested the legal team to submit a structured, selective list categorizing only those URLs displaying ex-facie pornographic or directly monetized material. Addressing the broader demand to shut down fan handles, the judge highlighted that fan pages serve diverse purposes on the internet, ranging from adulation and praise to lampooning and creative criticism. Asking how a public figure could seek to eliminate all fan clubs, the bench pointed out that being in the public domain naturally brings commentary and that personal rights cannot be interpreted in a way that curtails broader free speech.
The legal representatives for Meta Platforms also raised concerns regarding the sheer scale of sweeping takedown requests, explaining that expecting digital platforms to manually review thousands of unverified links creates an impractical burden. The court noted the fine balance required between protecting an individual’s personal identity and respecting copyright principles, observing that creators who hold rights over original photographs or artworks maintain legitimate entitlement to their work. Justice Bhambhani emphasized the urgent need to restore common sense and clear boundaries to the concept of celebrity personality rights, cautioning against overusing legal protections to suppress routine digital discourse. The landmark ruling establishes that while courts will actively intervene to curb non-consensual graphic images and commercial exploitation, legitimate online fan communities and public commentary will remain protected in the digital ecosystem.
To know such latest updates tuned tellyboosters.com Thank you
- Advertisement -
