The circulation of photos of the woman doctor raped and murdered at Kolkata’s RG Kar hospital in August has hugely upset the Supreme Court, which said the Central government must take action to stop this. The circulation of photos and videos of the 31-year-old doctor — whose rape-murder on August 9 had unleashed a countrywide protest — has been going on unabated since August 9.
The Supreme Court had earlier banned the use of pictures and videos of the victim not only on Wikipedia but on all platforms.
But today, the woman doctor’s parents told the court that artificial intelligence has been used to generate videos which are now being widely circulated online.
Senior advocate Vrinda Grover said a film, based on the 31-year-old doctor, will also be released on YouTube tomorrow. “Now, how do we know that how the girl has been portrayed how it will impact the probe?” she said.
“There are reels using her pics and artificial intelligence… and then they use Hindi film songs,” added senior advocate Karuna Nundy.
Calling the situation “very disturbing”, Ms Grover sought a nodal officer who can review the matter. “The family can intimate the officer as and when they come across it,” she said.
“If you want to stop the film, take the legal route,” said Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, who was leading the three-judge bench hearing the case. But he also said the state of West Bengal “must contact all social media platforms now” and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to ask MeiTY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) to “look into this and see if such links can be brought down”.
“The attention of the court has been drawn towards pictures of the deceased along with videos which has proliferated all across social media,” Justice Chandrachud said.
Mr Mehta said MeiTY shall nominate a nodal officer who shall communicate about the uploading of any such information and necessary action can be taken with the intermediary to take down such posts. MeiTY, he added, shall also consider laying down guidelines to handle such cases.
Pointing out that “not everybody reads judgment of this court”, senior advocate Indira Jaisingh said the order should be given wide publicity.
