The Delhi High Court has protected the “personality rights” of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, observing that the MP from Thiruvananthapuram is a “respected and recognised public figure” who enjoys rights over all facets of his personality.

In an order passed on May 8, Justice Mini Pushkarna restrained various persons and entities from reproducing, misappropriating, or imitating any facet of Mr Tharoor’s persona including his visual likeness and image, distinct voice, signature oratorical cadence and manner of speaking, and highly refined vocabulary.

The court passed the order after Mr. Tharoor moved a petition claiming that deepfake videos of him making “politically sensitive statements that he never made” were circulated online across various social media platforms.

Mr. Tharoor, in his plea, submitted that in or around March 2026, he discovered a “sophisticated, malicious campaign orchestrated by unknown infringers”, across various digital platforms. He said that the infringers weaponised artificial intelligence and machine learning to generate hyper-realistic audio-visual deepfakes by cloning his face, voice, vocabulary, and mannerisms.

These fabricated videos maliciously depict Mr. Tharoor making politically sensitive statements that he never made, including “Pakistan is faring much better diplomatically than India” and praise for Pakistan’s diplomatic strategies as “absolute brilliance”.

Misleading content

Mr. Tharoor, represented by senior advocate Amit Sibal, said such content was misleading the public and has caused serious harm to his credibility, reputation, and public standing, resulting in significant mental anguish and harassment.

In the interim order, Justice Pushkarna said that a “prima facie case has been made out” by Mr. Tharoor to protect his personality rights. The court said Mr. Tharoor has “exclusive control over the utilisation of his personality”.

“No one can utilise and/or misappropriate and/or imitate any facet of the plaintiff‟s personality, and/or exploit the same deceptively, or in any manner whatsoever, without the express consent/authorization of the plaintiff (Mr Tharoor),” the court ordered.

It directed X to take down and block access to the deepfake videos of Mr. Tharoor available on its platform. As Instagram has already taken down the links to content related to the deepfake videos of Mr. Tharoor, the court asked it to ensure that they remain inaccessible.