HC directs lawyers org to give representation to ECI on guidelines to stop misuse of deepfake tech

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed a lawyers’ organisation to give a representation to the Election Commission of India on its plea on the use of deepfake technologies in the political campaign for 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The court asked the ECI to decide the representation given by petitioners expeditiously, keeping in mind the urgency of the matter.

A bench of acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora disposed of the petition, saying it cannot devise a policy in the middle of elections.

The court said it trusts the ECI, which is a constitutional body, to act on the matter.

“We can’t devise a policy today in the midst of elections. Once it is entrusted with the ECI, the court’s interdiction at this stage will not be proper. At this moment, courts will not give any direction. You’ll have to live with it. All of this is to be done before the elections. At the 11th hour, courts cannot interfere,” the bench said.

“At this moment it will not be proper for the court to intervene with the jurisdiction of the ECI. Let us trust the ECI,” it said.

The court was hearing a plea by Lawyer’s Voice, an organisation seeking directions to the ECI to formulate and implement the necessary guidelines and/or executive action which was necessary to address the public harm and democratic crisis caused by the pervasive use of deepfake technologies in 2024 election campaign.

The plea also sought a direction to several social media platforms to take down and block deepfake content or those concerning political candidates or public figures on their respective platforms until the declaration of poll results.