The Delhi High Court on Friday said it will pass an interim order to protect the personality rights of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, after he moved the court seeking removal of deepfake videos circulating online. The videos falsely attribute statements to Tharoor that he never made, with his counsel arguing that they could be misused by foreign states.

Justice Mini Pushkarna issued notices to defendants, including social media platforms X and Meta, owner of Instagram. Senior Advocate Amit Sibal, appearing for Tharoor, submitted that there were three specific deepfake videos in circulation and that recourse had already been taken under applicable rules.

Tharoor, a public figure and Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on External Affairs, is being falsely shown making politically sensitive statements, including those related to India's relations with foreign states. His counsel highlighted that several media fact-checkers had concluded that the videos were fabricated, yet members of the public continued to believe them to be authentic.

The court will resume hearing on the matter, with Meta having taken down identified Instagram posts earlier in the day. X, however, had not filed any reply in the matter at the time of hearing. The court's interim order is expected to provide relief to Tharoor, whose reputation and goodwill are being tarnished by the deepfake videos.