Delhi High Court gives actor Vijay Deverakonda interim protection against AI deepfakes and voice clones

The Delhi High Court has given the Telugu film star Vijay Deverakonda interim protection over his name, image, voice and other personal attributes, including against AI-made content, deepfakes and face-morphing. Justice Vikas Mahajan heard the actor's suit briefly on 8 October, issued summons and a notice on his injunction application, and said an order would follow. The order itself, reported on 10 October, found a strong prima facie case and damage that money alone might not repair.

The directions are wide. Meta, Google and X must take down the identified videos, reels, posts, accounts and channels. Online marketplaces have 72 hours from receiving the order to remove listed links, and domain registrars must lock and suspend listed domains in the same window. India's IT ministry and the telecom department are to tell internet and telecom providers to block the listed sites within 72 hours, and compliance affidavits are due in two weeks.

The protection covers the spellings of his name, the initials VD, his voice recordings, signature, fashion style, photos, movie stills and performances. The court declined to restrain the standalone word "Rowdy" without evidence that it is distinctive, though an AI-generated or morphed image shown alongside that word is covered.

His plea described obscene and defamatory content, fake endorsements, impersonators posing as his agents, fake websites, mobile apps and merchandise such as t-shirts and mugs, and sought takedowns from Meta, X, Google, Flipkart, Amazon, Meesho and Red Bubble. Some of the offending links had already come down once the suit was served. The same judge heard Kangana Ranaut's similar plea that day, and the court has recently protected other Indian film figures. Defendants have four weeks to reply, with the next hearing before the Joint Registrar on 3 December 2026 and the court's own on 2 February 2027.