AI-GENERATED DEEPFAKES AND THE INDIAN LEGAL FRAMEWORK: A LEGAL ANALYSIS

Artificial Intelligence has changed the way digital content is produced and shared, making it possible to create images, videos and audio that can appear remarkably real. Deepfakes are one such development, where a person’s face, voice or actions can be digitally created or altered. While this technology can be used for legitimate purposes in fields such as education, entertainment and media, its misuse can cause serious harm through impersonation, fraud, harassment, misinformation, privacy violations and non-consensual intimate content. These developments have created new legal concerns in India, particularly because many existing laws were framed before such advanced forms of synthetic media became common. This article examines how the Indian legal system deals with deepfake-related harms through constitutional protections, the Information Technology Act, 2000, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and the Information Technology Rules, 2021. It also looks at important judicial decisions concerning privacy and personality rights, along with recent regulatory measures relating to Synthetically Generated Information. The article further considers difficulties in detecting deepfakes, securing their timely removal and providing effective remedies to victims. It concludes that India needs a practical and balanced legal approach that protects individuals from harmful uses of deepfakes while allowing legitimate expression, creativity and technological development. Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Deepfakes, Cybercrime, Privacy, Indian Legal Framework.