DELHI HIGH COURT ORDERS META TO REMOVE MORPHED IMAGE OF WOMAN WITH MODI

September 25, 2026

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday directed Meta Platforms to remove social media posts carrying an allegedly morphed image of a woman shown alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The court also ordered the Delhi Police to provide protection to the woman, who claimed she had received threats after the image was circulated online.

Justice Girish Kathpalia issued notices to Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das, Abhijit Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka and Ratna Singh following the woman’s petition alleging that they had circulated the images. The court directed Meta to remove access to the allegedly objectionable content within 24 hours.

According to the petition, the woman’s photograph was allegedly obtained without her consent and manipulated using AI-based face-swapping technology to create an objectionable image alongside Modi. She alleged that the image was displayed on banners during a CJP protest at Jantar Mantar and later circulated through social media. These allegations have not been established by the court.

The woman’s lawyer told the court that an FIR had already been registered but alleged that effective steps had not been taken to identify those responsible or remove the online material. Delhi Police said action would be taken expeditiously. The court ordered the police to submit a status report within a week and directed that the woman’s address remain protected.

The court has listed the matter for further hearing on October 14. It also directed the petitioner to provide the investigating agency with the relevant images, videos and web links as electronic evidence.