The Delhi High Court will order Meta and Google to remove web links misusing Gautam Gambhir’s name and images for fake merchandise and deepfake videos. Gambhir has sought ₹2.5 crore damages over AI-generated videos, impersonation, and unauthorised commercial use of his identity.
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday said it will pass orders directing tech giants Meta Platforms Inc. and Google LLC to take down web links that are allegedly misusing the name and images of Indian men’s national cricket team coach Gautam Gambhir for selling products and merchandise without permission.
Justice Jyoti Singh stated that she would pass a detailed order directing Meta and Google to provide Basic Subscriber Information (BSI) details and remove the links identified by Gambhir in his plea.
Gambhir has approached the High Court seeking damages of ₹2.5 crore against several entities for allegedly misusing his name, image, and personality to sell merchandise. The suit also highlights the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) generated videos and deepfakes to spread false information and mislead the public.
According to the suit, there has been a coordinated online campaign involving digital impersonation, AI-generated deepfakes, and unauthorised commercial use of Gambhir’s identity. The plea states that since 2025, there has been a sharp rise in fake digital content across social media platforms like Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, and Facebook relating to the former cricketer.
The petition further claims that multiple accounts used artificial intelligence tools such as face-swapping and voice-cloning technology to create highly realistic videos falsely showing Gambhir making statements he never made. One such fake video included a fraudulent “resignation announcement” which reportedly received more than 29 lakh views online.
Apart from social media, the suit also states that major e-commerce platforms were allowing the sale of posters and merchandise using Gambhir’s name and image without any authorisation.
Gambhir has filed the suit against 16 defendants, including certain social media accounts such as JanKey Frames, Bhupendra Paintola, Legends Revolution, gustakhedits, cricket_memer45, GemsOfCrickets, Crickaith, Sunny Upadhyay, and @imRavY_.
The suit also names e-commerce platforms Amazon and Flipkart, platform intermediaries Meta Platforms Inc., X Corp., Google LLC/YouTube, and government authorities including the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) as proforma parties to ensure implementation of any court order.
During the hearing, Gambhir’s counsel Jai Anant Dehadrai argued that Gambhir’s personality rights were being commercially exploited through the sale of merchandise on e-commerce websites without permission.
The counsel appearing for Google informed the Court that some of the infringing content had already been removed. Meta also submitted a document before the Court showing a list of links that were no longer accessible.
However, the counsel representing Amazon argued that the infringing links did not clearly identify specific product listings.
After hearing all parties, the Court said that it would pass a takedown order regarding the links highlighted by Gambhir and would issue detailed directions in the matter.
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