Varun Dhawan joins Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Jackie Shroff and others in seeking legal protection against personality rights misuse

Varun Dhawan has secured interim relief from the Delhi High Court in a case related to the unauthorised use of his identity online. The actor recently approached the court seeking protection of his personality rights amid the growing circulation of deepfake content and objectionable material on digital platforms.According to India Today, the Delhi High Court passed an interim order directing the removal of exploitative and offensive content involving the actor from social media and other online channels.The single-judge bench of Justice Jyoti Singh further instructed intermediaries and digital platforms to ensure that Varun Dhawan’s name, image and voice are not misused “in any form or manner whatsoever”.The order reportedly extends protection against deepfake visuals, obscene links and other manipulated or offensive material allegedly being circulated online without the actor’s approval.The court also directed platforms hosting such content to remove it and take preventive measures to stop further circulation through digital and media channels.The interim protection additionally covers unauthorised commercial exploitation connected to unidentified individuals, referred to in legal proceedings as ‘John Doe’ defendants.The development once again underlines increasing concerns within the entertainment industry regarding artificial intelligence-driven misuse of celebrity identities, including manipulated videos, morphed visuals and fake promotional content.Varun Dhawan has now joined several Bollywood celebrities who have sought legal safeguards against the misuse of their identity and likeness online.In the past, the Delhi High Court has granted similar protection to public figures such as Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn, Arjun Kapoor, Kumar Sanu, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Jackie Shroff.These legal protections are generally aimed at preventing misleading endorsements, unauthorised commercial usage and objectionable content involving celebrities without their consent.