Tabu Secures Legal Protection For Her Identity As Court Orders 150+ URLs Removed

The Delhi High Court has granted Bollywood actor Tabu interim protection against the unauthorised use of her name, image, voice and other elements of her personality online. The order also covers alleged misuse of her identity through artificial intelligence, deepfakes, face morphing and other digital technologies. The court's intervention came after the actor approached it alleging that her identity and persona were being commercially exploited on the internet without her consent. Justice Jyoti Singh passed an ex-parte ad-interim injunction while hearing the suit filed by Tabu.

The order restricts defendants, including unidentified individuals referred to as John Does, from using or exploiting the actor's personality and publicity rights without authorisation. The ruling seeks to prevent third parties from commercially benefiting from content that allegedly uses Tabu's identity without her permission. The court has also directed several major digital platforms to remove or disable access to numerous URLs containing allegedly unauthorised material involving the actor. Platforms named in the proceedings include Google, Meta, X and Reddit. More than 150 URLs have been identified for removal or disabling, according to the details of the case, reflecting the scale of the online content that Tabu has challenged.

The protection extends beyond conventional photographs or videos to emerging forms of digital manipulation. The actor's plea raised concerns over the use of her identity through AI-generated content, deepfakes, face morphing and other technologies that can reproduce or alter a person's appearance and voice. The court's order therefore addresses a broader range of potential misuse of personality rights in the digital environment. Personality rights generally concern an individual's ability to control the commercial exploitation of distinctive aspects of their identity, including their name, likeness, voice and public persona. Such rights have become increasingly significant for public figures as social media platforms, generative AI tools and digital editing technologies have made it easier to create and distribute content using a celebrity's identity.

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Tabu's case highlights the growing legal concerns surrounding the unauthorised commercial use of celebrity identities online. Content created using AI or manipulated through face-swapping and voice technologies can potentially make it difficult for audiences to distinguish authentic material from fabricated content. For celebrities, such material can also create commercial and reputational risks when their identity is used without permission. The Delhi High Court's interim order places responsibility on the named digital platforms to act against the URLs identified in the proceedings. The directions are intended to restrict continued access to the allegedly infringing material while the underlying dispute is considered by the court.

The order does not finally determine every issue raised in the suit, as the proceedings remain ongoing. The inclusion of unidentified defendants in the proceedings is also significant because online content can be created and circulated by individuals whose identities are not immediately known. By seeking relief against such persons, Tabu has attempted to secure broader protection against continued misuse of her persona rather than limiting the case to specific identified individuals or entities. The court's action comes amid increasing legal scrutiny of digital content involving celebrities and public figures.

The rapid development of generative AI and other editing technologies has made the unauthorised reproduction of a person's face, voice or mannerisms easier, prompting individuals to seek stronger legal remedies to protect their identities. The directions in Tabu's case provide interim safeguards while the court continues to examine the actor's claims. The removal or disabling of access to more than 150 URLs demonstrates the scale of the alleged misuse identified by the petitioner. The case could also contribute to the evolving legal framework around personality rights and the responsibilities of online platforms in dealing with AI-generated and manipulated celebrity content.

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