Extremely disturbing, shocking: Bombay High Court on morphed photos of Shilpa Shetty

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Friday termed as "extremely disturbing and shocking" the AI (artificial intelligence)-generated and morphed photos of actor Shilpa Shetty, and directed several social media platforms to forthwith delete and remove all such links and websites.

The actor had moved the HC seeking protection of her personality rights and also an order against websites and AI-generated content that allegedly carried morphed and manipulated images and videos of her.

A vacation bench of Justice Advait Sethna noted in its order that the material uploaded on the websites was "prima facie extremely disturbing" and "no personality, much less a person and or a woman can be portrayed in a fashion which affects her fundamental right to privacy and that too, without her knowledge and or consent".

In her suit, Shetty had alleged that AI tools were used to clone her voice and mannerisms to create morphed images, books and other merchandise without her authorisation.

The actor sought an injunction to all the websites to take down the content and to also restrain them from using her name, voice or image without permission.

The high court said in its order that Shetty has tendered photos from such social media platforms which depict her in an inappropriate and unacceptable fashion.

"These pictures prima facie appear shocking," Justice Sethna said.

She is a well-known film personality and also active on various social media platforms. Portrayal of such images through URLs would tarnish her image and reputation and this cannot be countenanced, the court added.

"In the interest of justice," the high court directed all the defendants to forthwith delete the URLs from their respective platforms.