A Doctrinal And Comparative Inquiry Into Digital Dignity And Synthetic Consent In The Age Of AI
- IJLLR Journal
- Jul 5
- 2 min read
Devyani Rastogi, O.P. Jindal Global University, Jindal Global Law School
ABSTRACT
The rise of new generative artificial intelligence tools have created a new and troubling form of sexual violence in the form of deepfake and AI generated synthetic sexual imagery, also known as DSSI. By using softwares like Stable Diffusion and undress.app, offenders create hyper realistic pornographic content from ordinary photos of real people, mostly targeting women and children, without their knowledge or consent.
This paper examines Whether India’s current laws and constitutional protections are sufficient to address this unique type of digital sexual violence?
It relies on the ideas of Danielle Keats Citron regarding sexual privacy, Stefano Rodotà's concept of informational self determination, and the analysis of deepfakes and free speech by Mary Anne Franks and Ari Ezra Waldman.
This paper also demonstrates how DSSI violates the constitutional rights to dignity, bodily autonomy, and moral agency under Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Indian Constitution.
It also analyses various Indian laws such as:
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023
The Information Technology Act 2000
The Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023
The POCSO Act 20212
The Indecent Representation of Women Act 1986.
These demonstrated how the Indian legal system fragmented and inadequate in identifying and addressing this new form of sexual offence.
This paper also drew comparisons from the United Kingdom, South Korea, and the European Union's legal systems and suggests that Deepfake and Synthetic Media Regulation Clause should be included in the current legal system, specifically in the BNS, by recognising the doctrine of synthetic consent as a new legal category with defined legal elements and intent, and implementing a statutory framework for algorithmic accountability.
