‘Act In 3 Days’: Delhi HC Issues Notice To Social Media Platforms On Salman Khan’s Plea Over Personality Rights

 

 

The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed social media intermediaries to act within three days on the complaint of Bollywood actor Salman Khan seeking protection of his personality rights.

Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora said she will pass a detailed interim restraining order regarding other entities impleaded in the matter. The high court directed the social media intermediaries to treat Khan's suit as a complaint under the Information and Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 and take the necessary steps within three days.

 

The court said that in case the social media intermediaries have any reservations to any weblink given by Khan, they should inform him. Khan approached the high court seeking to prevent the unauthorised use of his name, images, persona and likeness by social media platforms and e-commerce websites, and to protect his personality rights.

In his petition, the Bollywood star named several organisations, including social media platforms and e-commerce websites and unnamed individuals who, he alleged, have been using his photos, voice, and other content related to his personality without his permission.

 

The right to publicity, popularly known as personality rights, is the right to protect, control and profit from one's image, name or likeness. It is worth noting that the Delhi High Court has previously issued orders prohibiting the unauthorised use of content related to the personalities of several film celebrities.

On November 27, the court issued an interim order prohibiting the unauthorised use of any content related to the image and personality of film actor Ajay Devgn. The court also ordered the removal of content created using artificial intelligence (AI) and deepfake technology from the internet.

 

Recently, the court has also granted similar protection to Samajwadi Party MP and actress Jaya Bachchan, journalist Sudhir Chaudhary, Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, actor Nagarjuna, actress Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan and filmmaker Karan Johar.

Notably, Telugu actor Junior NTR has also approached the Delhi High Court seeking protection of his personality rights. The court is yet to pass an order on his plea.