"someone has illegally morphed her picture"
The deepfake video of Rashmika Mandanna has now seen the authorities getting involved, with the Delhi Police registering an FIR.
A bogus video of the actress circulated online.
It featured a woman entering a lift wearing a tight-fitting unitard.
Although the video appeared convincing, it was later revealed that Rashmika’s face had been superimposed on the woman’s body.
The video was actually of British influencer Zara Patel.
Rashmika later broke her silence on the matter, saying:
“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.
“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 could I ever tackle this.
“We need to address this as a community and with urgency before more of us are affected by such identity theft.”
Zara also said she was left “disturbed” and “upset” by the video.
An FIR has now been registered under Sections 465 (punishment for forgery) and 469 (forgery for intending to harm the reputation of a party) of the IPC, and Sections 66C (identity theft) of the IT Act 2000.
A police spokesperson said: “In regard to the deepfake AI-generated video of Rashmika Mandanna, an FIR u/s 465 and 469 of the IPC, 1860 and section 66C and 66E of the IT Act, 2000 has been registered at PS Special Cell, Delhi Police and an investigation has been taken up.”
The FIR comes after the Delhi Commission for Women sought action.
A statement read: “The Delhi Commission for Women has taken suo-moto cognisance on media reports of a deepfake video of an Indian actress Rashmika Mandanna circulating widely on several social media platforms.
“Reportedly, the actress has also raised her concerns in the matter and has stated that someone has illegally morphed her picture in the video.”
DCW has requested a copy of the FIR with details of the accused by November 17, 2023.
So far, no arrests have been made.
The statement continued:
“The Commission has learnt that till date no arrests have been made in the case.”
“This is a very serious matter. In view of the above, please provide a copy of the FIR registered in the matter, details of the accused arrested in the matter and detailed action taken report in the matter.”
The Delhi Metro has also approached Meta, requesting the company to provide details of the URL of the account that created the deepfake video.
Details of those who shared the video have also been requested.
One officer said: “We have written to Meta to access the URL ID of the account from which the video was generated.”
Loading ...