Indian cricketer Abhishek Sharma has approached the Delhi High Court, requesting legal protection for his personality rights. He seeks the removal of defamatory content, including that generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI), which portrays him negatively.
During a recent hearing, Justice Jyoti Singh decided to adjourn the case to July 9, citing the absence of critical evidence, such as screenshots of the allegedly infringing URLs, which were not attached to Sharma’s filing.
“There is a real mess up here. You file an affidavit with screenshot matching with your table. Screenshot is way different from what you are showing. I cannot pass an order like this,” Justice Singh remarked, emphasizing the need for corroborating evidence before issuing any orders.
The court instructed Sharma to submit an additional affidavit that includes screenshots aligning with the annexures table in his suit. “I am not saying I am not inclined to but I cannot pass an order this way,” reiterated Justice Singh.
Sharma’s legal plea involves the takedown of specific infringing content, notably AI-generated material, that has been circulating on social media platforms. Advocate Varun Pathak, representing Meta, informed the court that of the eight URLs provided by Sharma, two were inaccessible. He further explained that one of the URLs contained content uploaded by paparazzi, which may not fall under the scope of personality rights.
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In response, Sharma’s counsel argued that the content in question was AI-generated, pointing to a post where Sharma’s manager was misidentified as his girlfriend. “What is it indicating? Is that he is crying over the shoulders of another, and it’s an AI-generated image. It is not a paparazzi issue. He is clicked with the manager and then given a different color to it using artificial intelligence,” the counsel asserted.
