Chandigarh Court Suspends Facebook Pages Over AI-Generated Political Videos

A civil court in Chandigarh has directed Facebook to suspend public access to three pages – "Batale Di Rajneeti", "Kachi Laan", and "Thanedar" – until October 22, 2026, due to AI-generated videos of politician Amandeep Jaintipur. The court observed that uncontrolled AI manipulation "may adversely affect the health of our democracy."

The injunction was granted ex parte, meaning the operators of the pages were neither identified nor heard. The AI-generated videos had already garnered 300,000 views. The court found that the pages appeared to have a political agenda, maligning Jaintipur without verified facts.

With Punjab elections scheduled for early 2027, this is the third court order in Chandigarh this year targeting AI-manipulated political content on Meta platforms. Previous orders involved removing URLs with fake videos of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and a morphed video of Congress MLA Sukhpal Khaira.

This latest order is more extensive than prior ones, as it targets entire Facebook pages rather than specific URLs. The court cited that the videos depicted Jaintipur negatively, potentially influencing public consent and election outcomes.

The legal recourse for such cases is influenced by India's IT Rules, which require platforms to declare AI-generated content. However, removal typically necessitates a court order or official notice, a process that can be time-consuming, especially with elections approaching.