Former Indian cricketer and current Indian men’s team head coach Gautam Gambhir has taken legal action in the Delhi High Court to safeguard his personality and publicity rights. He has filed a civil suit in the Commercial Division of the High Court, seeking urgent protection against various parties, including social media accounts and e-commerce platforms. Gambhir’s legal team highlighted a surge in fake digital content using technologies like AI across platforms such as Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, and Facebook.
Gambhir’s team revealed that multiple accounts utilized AI, face-swapping, and voice-cloning to create misleading videos showing Gambhir making statements he never uttered. The fabricated content included a fake resignation announcement with over 29 lakh views and a manipulated clip discussing senior cricketers’ World Cup participation that garnered over 17 lakh views. The lawsuit targets 16 defendants, including social media accounts, e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart, and platform intermediaries such as Meta Platforms Inc., X Corp., and Google LLC / YouTube.
In a statement, Gambhir expressed concern over the misuse of his identity for spreading misinformation and profiting without consent. He emphasized the importance of legal protection for public figures in the digital era. The legal action, filed under various acts including the Copyright Act and Trade Marks Act, cites previous Delhi High Court judgments recognizing personality rights of public figures like Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, and Sunil Gavaskar.
The lawsuit seeks damages of Rs. 2.5 crore and demands a permanent injunction to prevent all defendants from exploiting Gambhir’s name, image, voice, or persona without his explicit consent. It also requests the removal of infringing content through AI, deepfake technology, or face-swapping. An urgent application for immediate takedown of infringing content and a freeze on further dissemination has been filed alongside the main suit.
