Deepfake Technology And Non-Consensual Digital Content In India: Examining Criminal Liability, Privacy Rights, Victim Protection And The Need For Comprehensive Legal Safeguards
Harinath Reddy G, School of Law, Aurora Deemed to be University, Bhongir, Telangana
ABSTRACT
Deepfake abuse exposes a mismatch between the speed of digital injury and the legal processes available to contain it. An identifiable person can be placed in a fabricated intimate depiction without any original private recording, while copies can remain accessible after the first upload is removed. This article examines Indian criminal law, constitutional privacy, intermediary regulation and procedural remedies through doctrinal analysis. It incorporates the February 2026 amendments to the Information Technology Rules and distinguishes notified obligations from consultation proposals. The article argues that existing offences provide substantial but uneven coverage: obscenity provisions regulate sexual content, voyeurism provisions depend on particular factual conditions, and fraud or defamation provisions protect interests that do not fully capture sexual autonomy. Stronger platform duties improve immediate intervention but do not themselves create a comprehensive substantive offence or a complete compensation mechanism. A coherent response should expressly address authentic and fabricated intimate depictions, distinguish creation from distribution and threats, and provide accessible civil protection alongside carefully defined criminal liability. Rapid removal must operate with secure evidence preservation, proportionate identification procedures, confidential complaints and meaningful review. The proposed approach protects consent and dignity without criminalising synthetic media as a technology or allowing privacy claims to become unrestricted powers of censorship.
Keywords: Deepfakes; image-based sexual abuse; privacy; criminal liability; intermediary responsibility; victim protection.
