1st All India Dr. Akhilesh Das Gupta Moot Court Competition, 2026 (ADGMCC’26)

Deepfakes — synthetic audio, image, and video content generated using deep learning techniques, particularly generative adversarial networks (GANs) and diffusion models — emerged as a recognizable phenomenon around 2017, when manipulated celebrity videos first circulated on online forums. What began as a niche technical curiosity rapidly scaled into a mass-market capability as open-source models, consumer-grade GPUs, and cloud APIs lowered the barrier to producing convincing fabrications. By the early 2020s, deepfakes had been documented in non-consensual intimate imagery, financial fraud (including a 2024 Hong Kong case involving a fabricated CFO video call that led to a USD 25 million transfer), election interference in multiple jurisdictions, and synthetic identity attacks against KYC systems. The core dispute centers on how to regulate a dual-use technology with legitimate applications in film, accessibility, and education while criminalizing its abusive deployment. India has responded through a patchwork of existing laws — Sections 66C, 66D, 66E and 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000; provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita on cheating, forgery, and defamation; and IT Rules, 2021 obligations on intermediaries — supplemented by the 2023 advisories from MeitY directing platforms to label synthetically generated content and remove deepfakes within stipulated timeframes. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 adds a data-protection layer, but India still lacks dedicated anti-deepfake legislation. Internationally, the EU AI Act (2024) imposes transparency obligations on synthetic media, China's 2023 Deep Synthesis Provisions require watermarking, and the United States has pursued sectoral measures including the federal TAKE IT DOWN Act and state laws targeting election and intimate-image deepfakes. Today the issue sits at the intersection of criminal law, intermediary liability, evidentiary standards, and freedom of expression. Indian courts have begun confronting deepfake-related disputes, including the Delhi High Court's proceedings on personality rights and AI-generated impersonation (Anil Kapoor v. Simply Life India, 2023; subsequent matters involving other public figures). Open questions include the admissibility and authentication of digital evidence under the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, the liability of model developers versus end-users, cross-border enforcement against anonymous perpetrators, and the proportionality of takedown and watermarking mandates against Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.