New Delhi, Jan 9 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has directed the removal of deepfake videos of Medanta Hospital Chairperson Dr Naresh Trehan circulating on social media.

Justice Mini Pushkarna said if the videos were not taken down by those who uploaded or shared the clips within a day, social media intermediaries would remove it within 36 hours from the receipt of the order.

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"The plaintiffs have demonstrated a prima facie case for grant of injunction and, in case, no ex parte ad interim injunction is granted, the plaintiffs will suffer an irreparable loss. Further, balance of convenience also lies in favour of the plaintiffs, and against the defendants,” the court said on January 8.

The interim order came on a plea by Medanta Hospital and Dr Trehan seeking removal of fabricated or deepfake videos in which the medical practitioner was shown giving medical advice and propagating natural remedies to cure problems in the field of urology.

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The plea said several fake videos of Dr Trehan, a world renowned cardiothoracic vascular surgeon and head of the Heart Institute of Medanta, the Medicity Hospital, Gurugram, were being circulated on social media and claimed he neither gave an interview nor recorded any such video.

"The intent of such posts is to deceive and mislead the public at large by promoting usage and sale of unapproved and uncertified medicines and natural remedies, towards illicit commercial gains of third parties, by misusing the repute and goodwill gathered by the plaintiffs on account of their contribution in the field of medicine, especially, plaintiff number 2 (Dr Trehan), as he is a personality in his own right/on his merit,” it said.

The videos prominently featured the name of Medanta Hospitals that displays the word mark “MEDANTA” and its design mark which is the intellectual property of the plaintiffs, the plea said.

It argued artificial intelligence, photoshop and voice-over techniques were used for the videos to give an impression Dr Trehan was in it.

The court order said in case the plaintiffs discovered any other false or deepfake videos, not associated with them, they could approach the intermediaries requesting them to block or take down any such post or content on their platforms within 36 hours.

The court directed the intermediaries to file an affidavit disclosing the details, including name, address, email, contact details, organisation and associations, URL and IP address, associated with the videos.

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