The Delhi High Court has granted a permanent injunction in favour of Anjana Om Kashyap and TV Today Network in a suit filed against a fake YouTube channel that impersonated the journalist. The court found that the channel had adopted a name deceptively similar to hers and used her images, likeness and voice—often through manipulated or deepfake-style content—to mislead viewers into believing that the channel was officially associated with her. The Court observed that the imitation extended beyond the name and included visuals and audio cues designed to create confusion among the public, thereby infringing her personality rights and the network’s proprietary rights.
The court noted that impersonation of a public figure through deepfake videos poses serious risks, particularly in the realm of news dissemination, as it allows misinformation to spread under the guise of a trusted identity. It held that such conduct could not be permitted, especially when it capitalises on the reputation and credibility of a well-known journalist without authority. The manipulated content, the court stated, could mislead audiences and undermine public trust in legitimate news broadcasts.
Google, the platform hosting the channel, had previously complied with an interim direction and removed the offending content. In view of this, the court did not find it necessary to issue any further directions to the platform. Instead, it focused on issuing a permanent injunction restraining the operators of the fake channel from using the journalist’s name, image, voice or any other element of her identity in any manner.
The decree granted by the court brings the legal proceedings to a close and affirms that such misuse of identity—particularly involving deepfake technology—amounts to a clear violation of personality and intellectual property rights, warranting firm judicial intervention.
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