Deepfake victims, Ranveer and Aamir approach the police

Deepfake videos spread before Lok Sabha polls in India. Bollywood actors Ranveer Singh and Aamir Khan have filed a police complaint after a deepfake video of them endorsing a political party went viral on social media. Earlier this month, Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan’s deepfake video went viral on social media in which he was seen promoting a political party. In the 41-second video, the actor is seen criticizing the policies of the current Indian government. After the video caught everyone’s attention, the Mumbai Police swung into action and registered an FIR against the unidentified person. Khan’s office filed an FIR at the Khar police station under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including sections 419 (impersonation), 420 (cheating) and other sections of the Information Technology Act. It is known that the voice of the fake video sounds like Aamir Khan’s voice over, but it is made entirely through artificial intelligence. Aamir Khan’s spokesperson later issued a statement saying the viral video was “fake”. We would like to clarify that Aamir Khan has never supported any political party in his 35-year career. He has devoted his efforts to raising awareness through public awareness campaigns of the Election Commission for many past elections”.

Aamir Khan took to his social media to warn everyone and posted, “Deepfake Se Bacho Dostan” (Friends, beware of Deepfakes).

Similarly, another Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh had to approach the police against the deepfake video. In this regard, Ranveer’s spokesperson told news agency ANI, ‘Yes, we have filed a complaint with the police and an FIR has been filed against Ranveer Singh’s AI-generated deepfake video-promoting handle.’ In the deepfake video of Ranveer taken from Varanasi, Ranveer is heard saying, ‘Modiji is right in some respects. His purpose is to celebrate our suffering. Unemployment in our country, inflation… our country is moving fast on the path of injustice. But we must not understand our own rights. But we must not stop seeking our own development and justice. So vote thoughtfully.’ And at the end of the video, it is said to vote for Congress.’ Many thought that Ranveer Singh may have been inclined to give the Congress due to his anger at not being invited to the inauguration of the Ram Mandir. But later it is known that the video is fake. The whole thing is done using Ranveer’s voice clone.

This is not the first deepfake video targeting an Indian celebrity. Several Bollywood actors like Katrina Kaif, Alia Bhatt, Rashmika Mandanna as well as cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar have been victims of deepfakes. India’s Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnab announced in November 2023 that notices have been sent to all social media companies, directing them to take necessary steps to identify and remove disinformation, particularly deepfakes, from their platforms. Deepfakes use AI technology to digitally mimic a person’s video. Deepfakes can be audio, video and image-based.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also spoken about the growing threat of deepfakes. In December 2023, he said, “These videos look very real so, we have to be very careful before trusting the authenticity of a video or image. India is pushing for a global framework for AI”. Lack of clear regulation or laws on deepfakes “Police are prosecuting the impact of deepfakes,” Anushka Jain, a policy researcher at the Goa-based Digital Future Lab, told Al Jazeera.

Social media giants Meta and Google have pledged to address manipulated content by removing or labeling posts that may be misleading. Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, said that “many manipulations are not obvious and can cause confusion, especially for video content”. Google, which owns YouTube, said that “we will notify viewers of such fake content through labels, including using AI tools”.

Source: The Independent