The High Court of Delhi at New Delhi has granted actor and sitting Member of Parliament Kangana Ranaut interim protection over her personality rights, directing Meta Platforms to take down AI-generated deepfakes and other manipulated content within 72 hours of being served with the order. Justice Vikas Mahajan also directed the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Department of Telecommunications to instruct internet and telecom service providers to block access to identified infringing URLs. The interim order, passed on 8 October 2026 in a commercial suit filed by Ranaut, will remain in force until the next hearing on 3 February 2027.

Ranaut, who represents the Mandi parliamentary constituency in Himachal Pradesh, told the court through her counsel that various social media platforms, webpages and online platforms were publishing fabricated statements, manipulated videos, AI-generated content and morphed images falsely depicting her. She said the content included sexually explicit deepfakes and other material placing her in inappropriate situations, as well as fabricated quotes and false statements attributed to her. The plaint, supported by her affidavit, said the content infringed her personality rights, publicity rights, right to identity and right to dignity.

The court found the plea for urgent interim relief to be credible. It allowed an application seeking exemption from pre-litigation mediation under Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 , observing that the relief sought in the application under Order XXXIX Rules 1 and 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure was "plausibly urgent and genuinely contemplated." The court also registered the suit and issued summons to the defendants.

72-hour takedown and dynamic injunction

Under the interim directions, the defendants—including unnamed persons described as John Does—and their officers, servants, agents and representatives are restrained from creating, publishing, reproducing, disseminating, hosting, displaying, transmitting or otherwise exploiting Ranaut's name, image, likeness, voice, speeches, signature, persona and other personality attributes without her authorisation. They are also restrained from creating or operating accounts, pages, profiles, channels, websites or digital assets that falsely suggest an association, affiliation, endorsement or authorisation by Ranaut.

The court directed Meta to remove, disable access to and permanently take down the impugned content identified in Annexure-A to the order and Document-K filed with the plaint, including videos, reels, posts, accounts and channels which unlawfully use or imitate Ranaut's persona, within 72 hours of being communicated a copy of the order. A compliance affidavit is to be filed within two weeks.

Annexure-A appended to the order tabulates 18 URLs, mostly on Instagram, with some on Facebook, together with usernames. It also covers Instagram search results for terms including "KanganaCow" and "Rahul Gandhi Kangana Ranaut."

The court further directed the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Department of Telecommunications to issue necessary directions to all internet service providers and telecom service providers for blocking or removing access to the infringer websites within the same period. The order also operates as a dynamic injunction: Ranaut may notify additional infringing URLs, accounts, channels or content discovered after filing of the suit, and the defendants must remove or disable access to them without fresh proceedings being instituted.

Deepfakes, false quotes and the limits of protection

The court observed that Ranaut's stature inherently gives her proprietary rights over her personality and associated attributes, including exclusive control over commercial use. It said those rights extend to AI-generated or morphed sexual and explicit deepfakes. "This further includes protection to the plaintiff against such instances of impugned content, involving AI-generated/morphed, sexual, and explicit deepfakes," the court recorded.

The judgment also considered manipulated audio-visual material that falsely portrays Ranaut as making statements, expressing opinions or participating in activities that never occurred. "Such content is inherently deceptive and is capable of misleading ordinary viewers into believing the same to be genuine," the court said. It noted the concern was more serious when her image and current designation were used with inserted false quotes.

The court referred to Document-K as containing URLs of sexual and pornographic AI and morphed content depicting Ranaut, and to a fact-check report certifying as fake an image at page 67 of Document-G. The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 were invoked: Rule 3(1)(b)(ii) obliges intermediaries not to host, publish or transmit information that is obscene or pornographic, while Rule 3(1)(b)(v) covers patently false and misleading content. Ranaut's counsel handed over a reformatted list of the identified infringing links, which the court appended as Annexure-A. He clarified that a satirical meme in the plaint was not being pressed for removal.

Prima facie case and next hearing

The court found that Ranaut had a prima facie strong case and that the balance of convenience was in her favour. It held that compensation in money would not be adequate if the content remained online and that the damage to her image appeared real and present. "The apprehension of dent and damage to the image and personality of the plaintiff, prima facie , appears to be real and present," Justice Mahajan observed.

Two defendants, after receiving an advance copy of the suit, took down the offending material and were deleted from the array of parties; an amended memo of parties must be filed within two weeks. Summons were issued to the remaining defendants. Written statements must be filed within thirty days and must be accompanied by affidavits of admission/denial of documents, with unjustified denials potentially exposing the party to costs. Replications, if any, must be accompanied by the same affidavit.

The suit is listed before the Joint Registrar on 4 December 2026 for completion of service, pleadings, admission/denial and marking of exhibits, and before the court on 3 February 2027. The interim order will remain in force until the next date of hearing.