BCI Bans Sensational Reels, Deepfakes, and Misinformation by Advocates and Law Students
The Bar Council of India (BCI), the country's highest regulatory body for the legal profession, has issued a comprehensive circular prescribing strict standards for the use of social media by advocates, law students and legal interns. The circular, issued on July 17, aims to regulate digital conduct and maintain the dignity of the judiciary.
Advocates are now prohibited from creating or circulating reels, videos, photographs or promotional content inside court premises, courtrooms, corridors, bar rooms, chambers or judicial buildings in a manner inconsistent with dignity and decorum. The BCI has also barred lawyers from clipping, editing or circulating live-streamed proceedings with captions, music, commentary, thumbnails or voiceovers that ridicule, mock, distort, sensationalise or scandalise the conduct of judges, counsel, litigants or witnesses.
The circular further prohibits lawyers, interns and law students from creating or circulating AI-generated images, deepfake videos, voice-cloned recordings or other synthetic content depicting judges, advocates, litigants or court proceedings. Publishing fabricated judgments, misleading legal advice, undisclosed AI-generated legal content, clickbait legal claims and misuse of professional identity on digital platforms is also banned.
Explaining the rationale, the BCI said selective clipping and editing of live-streamed proceedings with sensational comments can undermine public confidence in courts and the administration of justice. It also expressed concern over legal misinformation spread by unenrolled persons, law students, interns or self-styled legal influencers who present oversimplified or inaccurate content as legal advice.
The BCI clarified that the circular targets content that crosses the line from education into solicitation, misinformation, impersonation, breach of confidentiality, manufactured authority, commercial self-promotion or sensationalism. Positive use of social media, including short-form legal education through reels, shorts, videos, podcasts or similar formats, is permitted provided the content is accurate, contextual, non-soliciting, does not disclose confidential information and does not reduce complex legal issues to misleading assurances.
To ensure compliance, the BCI has directed all State Bar Councils to circulate the circular individually to every enrolled advocate and recognised bar association. Law schools and centres of legal education have also been instructed to conduct mandatory orientation programmes on digital ethics and professional responsibility.
