A video of actor Rashmika Mandanna entering a lift was recently shared by Indian web and social media users. The video was a fake created with Deepfake, a technology that enables fraudsters and cyber criminals to manipulate images and videos using machine learning and artificial intelligence. Just a few days later, an altered image of Katrina Kaif is making the rounds. The image, which was originally a screen capture from the upcoming Tiger 3 film, has been modified to make it look vulgar.
Katrina Kaif appears to be performing an action sequence for Tiger 3 while wearing a towel in the original image, which she released on Instagram. However, in the morphed image, the actor is shown in the same pose but with a distinct and altered outfit, making the image look vulgar.
However, the modified and fake image was removed from social media hours later. IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has taken cognizance of the issue and said that the government will issue notices to all platforms that fail to follow rules. They might lose legal protection, he said as quoted by Times Now.
#Deepfake Row
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) November 7, 2023
After #RashmikaMandanna's video, now a deepfake picture of actress #KatrinaKaif surfaces.
Notice has been issued to all platforms that follow rules or lose legal protection, says IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.@kritsween shares more details. pic.twitter.com/nZYnfir4rw
Meanwhile, Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar also commented on the issue and said that such deep fake videos were “dangerous and damaging” forms of misinformation. He warned that they must “be dealt with by platforms”.
PM @narendramodi ji's Govt is committed to ensuring Safety and Trust of all DigitalNagriks using Internet
— Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳 (@Rajeev_GoI) November 6, 2023
Under the IT rules notified in April, 2023 – it is a legal obligation for platforms to
➡️ensure no misinformation is posted by any user AND
➡️ensure that when reported by… https://t.co/IlLlKEOjtd
While Deepfake is not an entirely novel tool, it first appeared on the web a few years ago. It is increasingly being used by scammers and cybercriminals to morph pictures and videos. Many of these videos are sexually explicit and are often used to commit identity theft. People use the technology, which uses strong video cards to modify and remake elements of images and videos, to spread misinformation and garner benefits at the cost of humiliation and defamation of celebrities. It is important to note that morphing images and videos, whether using Photoshop or Deepfake tools, is a punishable offense.
Unfortunately, women are the usual victims of such tools.
The altered image of Katrina from the ‘Tiger 3’ movie scene raises worries because deepfake technology is capable of taking images of real people and changing them to look entirely different. In this case, the image depicted her wearing a different, vulgar outfit than she did in the film.
Meanwhile, a doctored image of Sara Tendulkar with cricketer Shubman Gill is also going viral over social media. Sara Tendulkar, in an AI-generated image, can be seen hugging cricketer Shubman Gill. This original image however features Sara with her brother ArjunTendulkar. The original photograph has been tampered with to replace Arjun with Shubman Gill, with Gill’s face seamlessly superimposed onto Arjun’s body.
1263
— D-Intent Data (@dintentdata) October 27, 2023
ANALYSIS: Fake
FACT: A digitally altered image of Sara Tendulkar with cricketer Shubman Gill has been shared, claiming she is dating the cricketer. Upon research, we found the original image that features Sara Tendulkar with her brother Arjun Tendulkar, (1/2) pic.twitter.com/Mg5qXK0CAA
In Rashmika Mandanna’s case, a deepfake video indicated her in a situation she was never in, potentially harming her reputation. The video showed the well-known actor stepping into a lift.
Deepfake technology entails the use of the latest artificial intelligence to create extremely lifelike yet often misleading digital content. This technology can alter an individual’s appearance and voice in videos or audio files, making it difficult to differentiate between original and altered content.
In the case of Rashmika Mandanna’s Deepfake video, the primary footage showed Zara Patel, a British-Indian influencer, but her face was artificially replaced with that of the actress using Deepfake software. Concerns have been raised about the potential for misuse of such tools, as well as the need for legal measures to combat its spread.
“Something like this is honestly, extremely scary not only for me but also for each one of us who today is vulnerable to so much harm because of how technology is being misused”, the actress had tweeted after the fake video went viral.
Reports mention that Deepfakes are frequently distinguished by unnatural facial expressions or movements, such as blinking too frequently or insufficiently, or movements that are too stiff or jerky. The eyes are capable of telling you whether a video is real or fake. Deepfakes frequently have blurry or unfocused eyes, or eyes that do not move in sync with the person’s head movements.
