Meta Given 24 Hours to Remove Morphed Photo of Woman

The Delhi High Court on Friday directed Meta Platforms to remove a morphed photograph of a woman with Prime Minister Narendra Modi within 24 hours, calling the case an “extraordinary position” that implicated both the dignity of a woman and the office of the Prime Minister (The Hindu). Justice Girish Kathpalia issued the order while hearing a plea filed by the woman, who alleged that leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) used artificial intelligence-based face-swapping tools to superimpose her face onto a vulgar image and circulated it widely on social media platforms, including Instagram (The Hindu).

The court also issued notices to CJP leaders Saurav Das, Abhijit Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka, and Ratna Singh based on the woman’s allegations that they were involved in creating and distributing the fabricated content (The Hindu). The petition, argued by advocate Umesh Chandra Sharma, stated that the incident occurred against the backdrop of protests organised by the CJP at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, where the perpetrators allegedly printed physical banners of the morphed picture, paraded them in crowds, and raised sexually suggestive slogans (The Hindu). The plea further alleged that the morphed explicit photos were uploaded and distributed onto various pornographic websites (The Hindu).

While an FIR had already been registered, the petitioner’s counsel informed the court that no effective steps had been taken to apprehend those responsible or to secure the immediate removal and blocking of the defamatory links (The Hindu). Justice Kathpalia observed that if the Delhi Police were not sensitive to the matter, the court would ensure they became so, and directed the police to provide protection to the woman, who stated she had been receiving threats to her life (The Hindu). The matter has been listed for further hearing on October 14 (The Hindu).