People got scared after watching Deepfake video of actress Rashmika Mandanna, Central Government took action

New Delhi: A fake deepfake video purported to be of actress Rashmika Mandanna is going viral rapidly. This video has raised concerns over the use of artificial intelligence to spread disinformation. In view of this, the Central Government has sent reminders to social media platforms reminding them of the rules. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has issued an advisory to social media platforms detailing the legal provisions covering such deepfakes and the penalties for their creation and dissemination.

Actually, Rashmika Mandanna’s ‘deepfake video’ clip along with the real video of British-Indian social media personality Zara Patel is circulating on social media. After the video surfaced, there is a debate in India on the urgent need for a legal and regulatory framework to deal with ‘deepfakes’. Mandana’s co-star in the film ‘Goodbye’ Amitabh Bachchan has demanded legal action in this matter. Bachchan was the first one to react to this.

Now the central government also seems to be strict on this. NDTV quoted sources as saying that the government has cited Section 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000. This section deals with ‘punishment for fraud by using computer resources’. This section says, “Whoever commits fraud by means of any communication device or computer resource shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine , which can go up to Rs 1 lakh.”
This advisory of the government has come immediately after the viral video of Rashmika Mandanna. Using Artificial Intelligence (AI), the face of this woman (Zara Patel) was manipulated to make it look like Mandana. ‘Deepfake’ is a digital method under which, using artificial intelligence, a user can easily replace the image of a person with the image of another person.

Mandanna expressed her concern via Instagram on Monday. Mandana said she was ‘really hurt’ after watching the video, which shows a woman in a black onesie while exercising inside an elevator. Rashmika wrote, “Today being a woman and an actress, I am thankful to my family, friends and well-wishers who are my protectors and support system.” She said, “But if something like this had happened when I was in school or college, I really can’t imagine how I would have faced it. “We need to address this more quickly as a community before more of us are affected.”

Apart from this, Zara Patel herself also condemned Mandanna’s deepfake video and said that she has nothing to do with the clip. A deepfake video was created by manipulating Mandana’s face on Patel’s body itself. Patel wrote on Instagram, “Hello, I found out that someone has created a deepfake video using my body and the face of a popular Bollywood actress. “I have nothing to do with the deepfake video, and I am deeply disturbed and disappointed by what is happening.” He wrote, “I am even more worried about the future of women and girls who will be even more afraid to put themselves on social media.” Patel said that whatever you see on the internet, fact-check. Not everything on the internet is real. “I am very disturbed by what is happening.”