As India’s elections heat up, fabricated videos have taken a prominent position, sparking controversies and police inquiries. Two senior aides to Prime Minister Narendra Modi are depicted in counterfeit clips, leading to repercussions for workers from the opposition Congress party.
Modi recently highlighted a growing concern over falsified voices being used to fabricate statements that leaders had “not even considered,” labelling it as a scheme “to sow discord within society.” Indian law enforcement, already scrutinising fake videos of Bollywood actors criticising Modi, have now turned their attention to a manipulated video of federal home minister Amit Shah. The video falsely portrays Shah declaring that the leading Bharatiya Janata Party would end certain protections for minority groups, a touchy issue for numerous voters.
In retaliation, without substantial proof, Shah accused the primary opposition, the Congress, of creating the video to deceive the public. He confirmed that orders have been issued to law enforcement to tackle this issue.
Last week, Indian police arrested nine individuals, including six members of the Congress’ social media team, in Assam, Gujarat, Telangana, and New Delhi for circulating the counterfeit video. The majority of the arrested Congress workers were granted bail. However, the most conspicuous arrest by the New Delhi police’s cybercrime unit was the detention of Congress’ national social media coordinator, Arun Reddy. The subsequent incarceration led Congress workers to protest online, calling for his release. Congress lawmaker Manickam Tagore asserted that the arrest represented the “unjust abuse of power by the regime.”
In a key world event, India’s seven-round election started on April 19th and will finish on June 1st.
Confronting the issue of false information dissemination involves a constant surveillance process, especially in a country like India where over a billion people are eligible to vote and more than 800 million utilise the internet. This task is carried out by law enforcement and election deputies who frequently order take down notices to Facebook and X as they commence investigations.
In Uttar Pradesh, the most populated Indian state, over 500 individuals are assigned to observe internet content. They pinpoint sensitive posts and liaise with social media organisations for their elimination if deemed necessary, Uttar Pradesh’s top police officer, Prashant Kumar, informed Reuters on a recent Saturday.
A counterfeit video, causing quite the uproar a week ago, portrayed Yogi Adityanath, the state’s Chief Minister, rebuking Modi for his lack of support to the bereaved families of victims from the 2019 extremist attack. Despite fact-checkers verifying that the video was pieced together from various sections of a genuine video, state law enforcement described it as a “deepfake” produced through artificial intelligence.
On May 2nd, Shyam Gupta was apprehended by state police after tracking his internet address. He had posted the deceptive video on X the day before, which was viewed more than 3,000 times and received 11 likes.
Indian officials have charged Gupta with forgery and inciting hostility, violations that could result in up to a seven-year prison sentence if found guilty. Reuters has been unable to contact Gupta as he is currently detained for two weeks.
“This individual is not technically proficient. It would have been much harder to detrain him swiftly if he had been,” asserted Officer Kumar.
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