Delhi HC Orders Social Media Platforms to Act on Salman Khan’s Personality Rights Complaint

Key Points:

The Delhi High Court on Thursday, December 11, 2025, directed multiple social media intermediaries to act within three days on actor Salman Khan’s complaint. The order applies to major platforms including X, Meta, Google, and Telegram. Khan has alleged widespread misuse of his personality rights across online platforms. Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora instructed the platforms to treat Khan’s lawsuit as a formal complaint under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.  The court directed them to take immediate steps to remove any infringing content.

The court also said it would pass interim stay orders against other non-intermediary entities accused of selling merchandise using Khan’s image, name, likeness, and other personal attributes without authorisation. The judge clarified that if any platform has reservations about specific links flagged by Khan, they must notify him promptly.

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Salman Khan’s Case

Salman Khan approached the High Court seeking protection against the unauthorised commercial and non-commercial use of his persona. He has restricted the use of his name, photographs, videos, voice, likeness, dialogues, mannerisms, and signature dance steps in any form. He alleged that several social media accounts, websites, e-commerce sellers, and AI-driven tools were generating or distributing content. This content includes AI-morphed images, fake videos, memes, GIFs, and merchandise that exploited his persona for profit and misled the public.

Khan’s legal team argued that the unregulated use of his persona causes commercial loss. It harms his reputation. It spreads misinformation. It may also violate the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) guidelines, which require public figures to ensure due diligence before endorsing products. The plea also highlighted misuse of his registered trademarks, including “Salman Khan,” “Being Human,” “Being Strong,” and “SK 27.”

The court referenced its earlier ruling in the Ajay Devgn case. It emphasised that complainants must normally approach social media platforms first, as required under the IT Rules.

What Are Personality Rights?

Personality rights, also called publicity rights, refer to an individual’s exclusive right to control and commercially benefit from their image, name, voice, likeness, signature, expressions, body language, or any uniquely identifiable attribute. The right also protects celebrities from impersonation, misleading endorsements, moral rights violations, and unauthorised AI-generated content.

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Khan’s plea stresses that his mass appeal, his recognisable way of speaking, and even nicknames like “Bhaijaan,” “Bhai,” and “Sallu Bhai” form part of his commercial persona. These cannot be used without permission.

Other Celebrities Seeking Personality Rights Protection

Salman Khan joins a growing list of public figures who recently sought legal protection of their personality and publicity rights. The Delhi High Court has already granted interim relief to Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Ajay Devgn, Karan Johar, Kumar Sanu, Akkineni Nagarjuna, and Raj Shamani. Telugu actor Jr NTR also has a pending petition, with an order expected on December 22, 2025. This rising wave reflects increasing concerns about AI-driven impersonation, morphing, and unauthorised commercial exploitation of celebrity personas.

The case will next be heard on May 18, 2026. The court is expected to consider further directions and possible restraining orders against additional defendants.

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