A Ludhiana court ordered all social media platforms to remove a viral AI-generated audio clip of a Punjab cop involved in a ‘sex-for-cash’ controversy. The court said the content was unauthenticated, defamatory, and harmful to public trust and law enforcement.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!
PUNJAB: A court in Ludhiana has ordered social media companies and the media to remove all online posts and videos about a viral phone call recording. In that call, a senior police officer was allegedly heard asking a woman for sexual favours in exchange for money.
The order was issued by Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMIC) Vibha Rana. She directed big digital platforms like Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp), YouTube, X Corp (earlier called Twitter), and other media platforms to make sure that no similar videos or posts are allowed to be uploaded or shared again.
The court also gave a general warning to the public not to share or forward this kind of content.
The judge said this because there was a serious concern that the audio clip could be fake. It may have been edited or even created using artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
“The In-charge, State Cyber Crime Division, Mohali, is hereby directed to take immediate steps to implement and monitor compliance with this order. The intermediary platforms are further directed to comply with Rule 3 of the IT Rules, 2021 and Section 90 of the BNSS, 2023,”
-the Court said in its order dated April 7.
After the court’s order, some of the videos and social media posts were removed by the platforms.
This action came after social activist Devinder Singh Kalra filed a request in court.
He said the viral clip was an
“AI-generated impersonated/ voice cloned audio and visuals”
that was made to attack the image of police officers and could disturb peace and public order.
The court agreed that the audio clip looked suspicious.
The way it was used in the viral videos-
“Without any disclosure of source, authentication, or official verification, combined with its uniform pitch, mechanical tone, and lack of natural conversational cadence”
-supported the claim that AI may have been used to make it.
The judge noted that nowadays AI tools like Resemble.AI, ElevenLabs, and Descript can copy real human voices very accurately.
“This Court is cognizant of the growing concern around the misuse of publicly available artificial intelligence tools, such as Resemble.AI, ElevenLabs, and Descript, which can clone human voices with high precision. The features of the audio clip as heard in the impugned content bear the typical signs of voice synthesis: absence of tonal variation, disconnected phrasing, and speech uniformity inconsistent with natural human interaction. In light of these attributes, and in absence of any credible attribution or legal authentication, this Court draws a reasonable inference that the content is digitally manipulated with the intent to mislead,”
-the judge said.
The court added that content like this seems to be fake and is clearly attacking someone’s personal character without any proof. Therefore, it is not protected by free speech or public interest journalism.
“Rather, it constitutes targeted and unauthenticated character assassination, warranting judicial intervention to prevent further dissemination and to safeguard the dignity of public institutions and societal peace,”
-the judge said.
The court also mentioned that such videos do not serve any real news purpose. Instead, they seem to have been spread just to create drama or for negative reasons.
“Rather than performing a legitimate public function, these videos publicly ridicule and undermine the dignity of the person concerned, while also damaging the morale of police personnel / law enforcement agencies in general,”
-the court added.
The judge said some of the social media channels that spread the clip were operating from outside India.
That makes it harder for Indian laws to control them, which is dangerous.
“Further, upon perusal of the submitted YouTube links and associated metadata, it appears that some of the channels/accounts involved in the circulation of the impugned content are hosted or registered outside India. The operation of such platforms or handlers from foreign jurisdictions, who are not directly subject to Indian accountability standards, creates a regulatory vacuum and poses a grave threat to national integrity and public law and order. This unchecked dissemination of unauthentic, manipulated, or defamatory content through extraterritorial sources can cause public unrest and disturb societal peace, especially when there exists no reliable mechanism to verify or prevent such actions under domestic law,”
-the order said.
The court strongly felt that this kind of content could lead to public anger and loss of trust in the police and disturb peace in society.
The judge also said that because this content is not verified and is being shown in a sensational manner on big platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and X, it was necessary for the court to step in.
“It is also relevant that these videos do not fall within the protection of fair reporting or ethical journalism, as they neither cite verified sources nor appear backed by public interest considerations. In fact, such content only appears to have been published with malicious intent and may potentially incite public enmity against state institutions,”
-the judge reasoned.
The judge said if such content is allowed to stay online, it can badly affect people’s faith in the police and government institutions.
“The unchecked publication of such targeted, defamatory, and impersonated content on mass platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and X can also lead to erosion of trust in policing and governance, especially when such impersonation is framed as authentic. Hence, this Court finds that the continuation of such posts and videos online is detrimental to societal harmony and discipline,”
-the court said.
Because of all this, the court gave strict instructions to Meta, Google, X Corp, and other digital media platforms to remove the controversial clips and make sure they are not uploaded again in any form.
The court also ordered that even edited versions, YouTube Shorts, reaction videos, or misleading tweets about the same issue must be taken down.
“It is further directed that no person, group, page, handler, or digital entity shall post, repost, tag, upload, or circulate the impugned content or any content of similar nature concerning the same individual(s) or institution(s), if the same is unauthenticated, unverified, fabricated, or intended to malign, defame, or damage the dignity of any person or institution, especially the law enforcement agency,”
-the Court added.
Advocate Vikram Singh represented the applicant in the case.
CASE TITLE:
Devinder Singh Kalra v Meta Platforms.
Would You Like Assistance In Drafting A Legal Notice Or Complaint?
CLICK HERE
Click Here to Read Our Reports on Sex Scandal
FOLLOW US ON YOUTUBE FOR MORE LEGAL UPDATES
