PM Narendra Modi; Film star Alia Bhatt
By Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, November 30: In a shocking incident, a senior citizen in Ghaziabad was blackmailed into paying extortions after criminals created a deepfake of the voice of an IPS officer. The criminals had created a deepfake image of the senior citizen. It gave an impression that he had solicited sex. Afterwards, criminals created deepfake of an IPS officer to make extortion calls to the 76 years old senior citizen. The Ghaziabad Police said that the senior citizens had made several payments to the criminals believing that he was being investigated by the senior IPS officer.
Deepfake attacks on celebrities have revealed the ugly side of artificial intelligence. Not only celebrities, but even a common man is at risk of deepfake.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also been a victim of deepfake. Modi had recently mentioned his image was used through deepfake to show him at a Diwali celebration event which he had never attended.
Film stars and sports celebrities are becoming victims of deepfakes. Even a retired clerk in Ghaziabad felt the ruinous impact of deepfake, showing that everyone is at risk. The AI tools are creating deepfake images to target the reputation of the celebrities. The laws are said to be inadequate to deal with growing instances of deepfakes.
The dark side of artificial intelligence struck Bollywood celebrities. Film stars are falling victims to deepfake videos and images. Film star Alia Bhatt joined an increasing number of celebrities who have become victims of deepfake.
Experts warn that deepfake is a big concern about the privacy and security of public figures. There can be several consequences for celebrities as well as their fans. In the recent case of deepfake against Alia Bhatt by creating a video that went viral. This deepfake video clip had a girl who looked like Alia Bhatt. She was seen making obscene gestures while dressed in a blue dress.
The Ghaziabad police said that the senior citizen had opened a Facebook account. Later, he got a video call that he disconnected quickly after seeing a nude woman on other side. Soon, he got a WhatsApp video call with the purported senior IPS officer in the police dress. This started the series of payments for extortion by the senior citizens.
Bollywood star Katrina Kaif has also been a victim of deepfake. Katrina Kaif became a victim of AI after her digitally altered image from upcoming film Tiger 3 went viral. In movie Tiger 3, Katrina Kaif had an image that showed her participating in a scene with a stuntwoman clad in a towel. But the deepfake created an image that depicted Katrina Kaif wearing a low-cut white top and matching bottoms instead of the towel. The altered image was created with the malicious intention to damage the reputation of Katrina Kaif.
South China Morning Post in an article said that the “rise of deepfake technology poses a serious threat to celebrities’ privacy, reputation and mental well-being”. It added that the “incidents involving Alia, Rashmika, Kajol, Sara and Shubman highlight the urgent need for increased awareness, strict regulations and advanced technological solutions to combat digital fraud.”
Ot may be recalled that Rashmika Mandana became a victim of deepfake after a video emerged on internet of her face morphing into a random script. Pakistan’s Friday Times in a report said that “Instagram users played a role in the spread of this fake video, highlighting the potential for such content to spread rapidly in the digital age.”
The Pakistani daily also mentioned the case of film star Kajol as a video surfaced of her face on top of a woman changing clothes on camera. The daily said that “it was later revealed that the video was originally about an English social media influencer participating in a ‘Get Ready With Me’ trend on TikTok. The incident highlights the potential for misinformation and the need for careful verification in the age of deepfakes”.
IT Ministry had recently issued an advisory to social media companies to deal with deepfake contents. The ministry had asked the social media platforms to take down deepfake content immediately. The ministry had said that the social media platforms could face criminal prosecution if they didn’t act against deepfake contents.
Social media platforms with more than five million users are mandated to appoint tech compliance officers who have to ensure that contents deemed objectionable by law enforcement agencies are removed. As per the rules, social media platforms must remove sexual contents within 24 hours. They get time for 15 days to remove non-sexual offensive contents.
Recently, deepfake had attacked Sarah Tendulkar also as AI tool manipulated a picture posted by her with her brother Arjun Tendulkar on Instagram for his birthday. The deepfake manipulated image replaced Arjun’s face with cricketer Shubman Gill.
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