The Delhi High Court has ordered the removal of several online materials allegedly using the identity of Drishti IAS founder Vikas Divyakirti without authorisation, including fake social media profiles, deepfake videos and certain unauthorised recordings of his lectures.
Justice AJ Bhambhani passed the directions while hearing a plea filed by Divyakirti seeking protection against alleged misuse of his name, image and identity on digital platforms.
The case relates to online accounts and channels allegedly created using Divyakirti’s name and photograph.
His plea also raised concerns over videos portraying him as endorsing betting and trading platforms, which he claimed were manipulated or created without his consent.
The court was also informed about the circulation of clips from Divyakirti’s lectures. According to his counsel, some of the videos were edited and presented with captions or in a manner that allegedly gave a different impression from the original lectures.
A significant part of the hearing concerned the growing use of digital tools capable of creating manipulated content. Justice Bhambhani raised concerns about such tools being available without effective mechanisms to identify the persons using them.
The issue arose during submissions by Meta’s counsel, Advocate Varun Pathak. The counsel referred to the licensing and permission requirements that apply to certain activities in the physical world. The judge drew a comparison with the process involved in obtaining a firearm licence.
The court observed that digital tools capable of producing powerful content can be made available to users who may not be identifiable, raising concerns about their possible misuse.
Pathak, however, submitted that platforms cannot necessarily be held responsible for every misuse of a feature by a user and pointed to the possibility of platforms collecting identifying information beyond what the law requires.
Senior Advocate Diya Kapur, appearing for Divyakirti, also referred to a feature that allows a person to use another person’s video and add their own performance over it. She argued that such features can result in existing content being reused in a different context.
Divyakirti’s counsel placed the disputed material before the court in separate categories and sought directions where, according to her, there was no competing right involved.
The court’s directions cover fake profiles and channels on platforms such as YouTube and Instagram using Divyakirti’s name and photograph, along with deepfake material and other content identified in the plea.
At the same time, the court has kept open for further consideration the larger legal issue concerning edited or clipped lecture videos. This includes the question of whether altering and re-captioning such material in a manner that allegedly changes its meaning can constitute infringement of copyright or personality rights.
Divyakirti is an educator, author, lecturer and former civil servant and is the founder and coaching head of Drishti IAS, a Delhi-based civil services coaching institute. (with inputs from ANI)
