The Delhi police have arrested the main accused in the case related to actor Rashmika Mandanna’s deepfake video, in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday.
A deepfake video of Mandanna went viral on social media in November 2023, in which her face was edited and replaced by that of a British-Indian influencer Zara Patel, wearing a black workout dress.
Following this, the Delhi Police filed a case in the matter under sections 465 (forgery) and 469 (harming reputation) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and sections 66C (identity theft) and 66E (privacy violation) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Mandanna had expressed concern over the misuse of technology after her deepfake video went viral. In a social media post, the actor said that she was "really hurt" to see the video.
The video also prompted the government to issue a stringent reminder to social media platforms, highlighting the legal provisions governing such deepfakes and the associated penalties.
Minister Narendra Modi has expressed his concerns about such incidents. Union Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that the government is mulling over amendments in the Information Technology Act to deal with such cases.
Mandanna is not the only celebrity to fall prey to the menace of deepfake videos. Earlier, celebrities such as Alia Bhatt, Kajol, and legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar also went through the same ordeal.
The internet is now loaded with artificial intelligence (AI) generated fake videos and audio. Deepfake is a digital method where one can replace a person's likeness convincingly with that of another using Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology.