The 2024 Indian general election kicked off on April 19 and will continue until June 1. Concerns are rising over the potential interference of “deep fake” videos generated by artificial intelligence in what is being touted as the largest election in the world’s history.
In circulating deep fake videos online, two prominent Bollywood actors in India criticized the current Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging people to vote for the opposition party – the Indian National Congress (INC).
In a 30-second video by Aamir Khan and a 41-second video by Ranveer Singh, both A-list celebrities criticized Modi for not fulfilling his campaign promises during his two terms as Prime Minister and neglecting key economic issues.
Both AI-generated videos ended with the INC election logo and slogan “Vote for justice, vote for the Congress party.”
According to Reuters’ verification, these two videos have amassed over 500,000 views on social media since last week, highlighting the potential impact AI-generated content may have in the Indian election.
Prime Minister Modi is seeking a third term, but the opposition party believes that continued governance under Modi would lead to a loss of freedoms for the people of India.
Historically, election campaigns in India have focused on door-to-door canvassing and public rallies. However, since 2019, social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook have been widely utilized as campaign tools.
On April 17, a spokesperson for the Indian National Congress, Sujata Paul, shared a fake video of Singh with her 16,000 followers on social media platform X. By last Saturday, her post had been reshared 2,900 times, garnered 8,700 likes, and had 438,000 views.
Paul told Reuters over the phone that she was aware of the video being tagged as “manipulated media” on the X platform but chose not to remove it, citing the likeness between the individual in the video and Singh as “creative.”
Following a query sent by Reuters to the social media team of the Congress party, the post on X was no longer visible.
Both Khan and Singh have confirmed the videos are fake, and Facebook, X, and at least eight fact-checking websites have stated that these videos have been altered or manipulated. Reuters’ digital verification department also confirmed this but could not identify the creators of these videos.
A spokesperson for Khan expressed shock over the viral fake videos, while Singh’s team is investigating the matter. Singh wrote on X on Friday, “Beware of deep fakes, friends.”
Some versions of the videos have been blocked on social media, but as of April 20, at least 14 versions were still visible on X. Facebook has removed the two videos verified by Reuters, though one remains visible.
The videos have sparked an investigation by Indian authorities. On April 17, Khan filed a report in Mumbai alleging that unidentified individuals impersonated him and created fake videos.
Two officers handling Khan’s case, speaking on condition of anonymity, disclosed that they had written to Facebook and X requesting the videos’ removal, both companies claiming to have taken them down.
When asked about the progress of the case, one officer said, “This type of tech investigation takes time.”
(This article is based on reports from Reuters)