DeepFake Challenge: This year, from politics to films and even war, it has been proved that whatever is seen or heard on the internet is not necessarily real. Continuously developing Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is rapidly becoming a part of people’s lives, but meanwhile, the sharp increase in the cases of deepfakes in the country has raised concerns about the possibility of it influencing electoral politics, especially the Lok Sabha elections to be held next year. Has created concern. Deepfake is a technology by which a video is manipulated to fit the face of a person who is not a part of that video. It is difficult to tell the difference between real and fake videos made by tampering with this technique. The use of deepfakes poses a risk of spreading misinformation about a person and damaging his reputation.
Deepfake videos made using faces of actresses
According to the 2023 State of Deepfakes report by Home Security Heroes, a US-based web security services company, a five-fold increase in deepfake videos has been seen since 2019. Many cases related to deepfake videos were seen in India this year, such as in a video, the face of a British Indian social media influencer was replaced with the face of actress Rashmika Mandanna. This incident sparked a nationwide debate about the impact of deepfakes and raised concerns about privacy violations and the harm it could cause. Four people were arrested for making deepfake videos and uploading them on social media. Not only Mandana, but deepfake videos were made using the faces of many other film actresses like Alia Bhatt, Kajol, Aishwarya Rai and Katrina Kaif.
Use of deepfakes globally
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had warned a few months ago about the use of AI, saying that deepfake videos can cause a big crisis and create discontent in the society. He urged the media to raise awareness and educate people about its misuse. Pawan Duggal, Supreme Court lawyer and chairman of the International Commission on Cyber Security Law, said, this is a new emerging technology but it is very fast becoming a part of people’s lives. Not only cyber criminals, but a large number of people are using deepfakes in all types of human activities, including electoral processes. He said, it is not that only people like Rashmika Mandanna, Katrina Kaif or Alia Bhatt will be victims of this. We will soon realize that even ordinary internet users will become victims of deepfakes. He said, there are already many deepfake videos on many porn websites. This is going to be a big challenge. Deepfakes have been used globally to manipulate the narrative around conflicts such as Ukraine and Gaza. The possibility of its use in elections in India is a matter of concern.
A matter of great concern to ensure fair elections
During the recent assembly elections, not only politicians were targeted through deepfake videos, but attempts were also made to influence public discourse. Deepfake videos targeting public figures like Y S Sharmila and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan emerged as a potential threat to electoral politics. The seriousness of the situation has attracted the attention of lawmakers and technology experts in view of the general elections to be held next year. Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajiv Chandrashekhar said, for a country like ours, which is the world’s largest democracy, deepfakes and the misinformation presented by them is a matter of great concern for safe, free and fair elections.
Data Privacy Act requirement
Amid growing concerns about deepfakes, the government has directed all social media platforms to follow IT (Information Technology) related rules. It is mandatory for companies to inform users about prohibited content in clear words. An official release said that the IT Ministry will closely monitor the compliance of rules on social media and digital platforms in the coming weeks and will decide on further amendments in IT rules or law, if necessary. Pankit Desai, co-founder and CEO of cyber security company SecureTech, said the Indian government has realized that there is a need for a data privacy act. This law is already there. This now also needs to include the possible misuse of AI and deepfakes so that citizens and corporates across the world can be protected from such misuse.