Kenjiro Tsuda voice deepfake — Sep 2026

Voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda has initiated legal action against TikTok in a Tokyo court, seeking the removal of videos that allegedly utilize an AI-generated clone of his voice. This case is considered a landmark effort in Japan to defend an individual's vocal identity against unauthorized synthetic replication.

What happened

An anonymous TikTok account, which featured imagery resembling a character voiced by Tsuda in the franchise "Jujutsu Kaisen," posted a series of videos narrating content about urban legends, occult phenomena, and conspiracy theories. Tsuda’s legal team argues that the account utilized an AI-generated copy of his distinctively deep and lustrous voice to gain popularity and generate revenue, reaching over 200,000 subscribers and potentially earning upwards of 500,000 yen ($3,200) per month.

Tsuda’s attorneys contend that this usage infringes upon his publicity rights—the legal ability to control and profit from aspects of one's own identity. While the specific account is no longer viewable on the platform, the Tokyo District Court is tasked with determining whether TikTok bears responsibility for the content. TikTok has contested the claims, arguing that the voice in question is a generic male voice and that the platform merely serves as a forum for user-generated content protected under free speech. The case has drawn significant attention from the Japanese acting community, with industry groups launching the "No More" campaign to advocate for stronger protections against unbridled AI voice cloning.