Rashmika's Deepfake Row: Centre Issues Strict Advisory To Social Sites Against Impersonation
A day after Rashmika Mandanna's deepfake video went viral and garnered massive attraction, the centre has issued a strict advisory for such acts.
Actress Rashmika Mandanna recently found herself in a pool of fiasco after a deepfake video of her went viral. The video which should have been ideally removed by now is still available across social media handles and features the face of a Pushpa actress getting morphed over another girl¡¯s video.
This was initially flagged by a social media user named @abhisheksay and got major attention after Amitabh Bachchan echoed it.
Twitter
The Centre issues an advisory for social media sites against such acts.
In an official advisory by The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the legal provisions that cover such deepfakes and the penalties their creation and circulation may attract have been clearly aligned. The govt cited Section 66D of the Information Technology Act of 2000 which stated,
? There is an urgent need for a legal and regulatory framework to deal with deepfake in India.
¡ª Abhishek (@AbhishekSay) November 5, 2023
You might have seen this viral video of actress Rashmika Mandanna on Instagram. But wait, this is a deepfake video of Zara Patel.
This thread contains the actual video. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/SidP1Xa4sT
¡°Whoever, by means of any communication device or computer resource, cheats by personating, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to a fine which may extend to one lakh rupees."
The Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar was the first few to react to the entire fiasco.
The original video is of Zara Patel, a British-Indian girl with 415K followers on Instagram. She uploaded this video on Instagram on 9 October. (2/3) pic.twitter.com/MJwx8OldJU
¡ª Abhishek (@AbhishekSay) November 5, 2023
He took to Twitter and wrote, ¡°PM @narendramodi ji's Govt is committed to ensuring Safety and Trust of all DigitalNagriks using the Internet. 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 any user or govt, misinformation is removed in 36 hrs.¡±
¡°If platforms do not comply with this, rule 7 will apply and platforms can be taken to court by aggrieved persons under provisions of IPC. Deep fakes are the latest and even more dangerous and damaging form of misinformation and need to be dealt with by platforms. #SafeTrustedInternet #DigitalIndia.¡±
PM @narendramodi ji's Govt is committed to ensuring Safety and Trust of all DigitalNagriks using Internet
¡ª 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
How did Rashmika Mandanna react to the whole fiasco?
She expressed, ¡°I feel really hurt to share this and have to talk about the deepfake video of me being spread online. 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.¡±
Rashmika Mandanna Indo-Western Look I Pic Credit: Instagram
¡°Today, as a woman and as an actor, I am thankful for my family, friends and well-wishers who are my protection and support system. But if this happened to me when I was in school or college, I genuinely can¡¯t imagine how I could ever tackle this. We need to address this as a community and with urgency before more of us are affected by such identity theft.¡±
For more news and updates from the world of celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment.
Aditya Sagar is an Entertainment Journalist at Indiatimes who holds a true-blue Bollywood heart and has his ears tuned to the whispers of Tinseltown. From Dharma to Drama, he is your trusted guide to the glitz, glamour and gossip that make headlines. He can be reached out @theadityasagar across all social media platforms.
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