Nitin Gadkari Allowed to Sue Meta, X and Google Over Ethanol Deepfakes

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has approached the Bombay High Court, stating that he played no role in the Ethanol Blended Petrol programme or the E20 initiative. On Monday, the Bombay High Court granted Gadkari permission to file a civil suit against Meta Platforms, Google LLC, X Corp, and others to seek the removal of allegedly false, fabricated, and defamatory AI-generated videos and digital content.

According to the proposed suit, online posts and deepfakes falsely portrayed Gadkari as the primary driving force behind the ethanol-blending programme. The manipulated content also alleged that the minister and his family received financial gains from the government policy.

The suit explicitly asserts that both the Ethanol Blended Petrol programme and the E20 initiative fall exclusively under the administrative jurisdiction of the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, rather than the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways headed by Gadkari.

Officials from Gadkari's Nagpur office also stated that the policy decision to implement ethanol blending was taken directly by the Union Cabinet and not by Gadkari's ministry.

The suit further clarifies that its primary objective is not to curb public debate or criticism, but to address the fake and manipulated digital content falsely linking the minister to financial benefits.