Following in the footsteps of Rashmika Mandanna and Katrina Kaif, a false video of Bollywood actress Kajol has started doing the rounds on social media sites. The video, which was first posted on TikTok, shows Kajol’s face being digitally modified to create a false and contrived scene. The woman posing as Kajol appears to be changing clothes in the video, highlighting the fraudulent nature of the deepfake content.
Who appears in the first video?
Rosie Breen, an English social media influencer, appears in the original video. On June 5, she posted the video to TikTok as part of the “Get Ready With Me” (GRWM) trend. However, her footage has now been modified to superimpose Bollywood actor Kajol’s face over Breen’s body.
Deepfake video of Rashmika Mandanna
Rashmika Mandanna’s deepfake video went viral on social media a few days ago. Rashmika’s face was merged over the body of British-Indian Instagram sensation Zara Patel in an earlier video that went viral.
Rashmika had composed a lengthy statement on social media in response to the viral deepfake video of her: “I feel really hurt to share this and have to talk about the deepfake video of me being spread online.” Something like this is truly terrifying, not only for me, but for all of us who are now vulnerable to so much harm as a result of how technology is being abused.”
“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,” she added.
The government issues a warning to social media platforms.
Following Rashmika’s fake viral video, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTY) issued a warning to social media sites outlining the legal requirements surrounding deepfakes and the potential implications of their creation and dissemination.
The government advisory stated, citing Section 66D of the Information Technology Act of 2000, “Whoever, by means of any communication device or computer resource, cheats by personating, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, and shall also be liable to a fine which may extend to one lakh rupees.” Section 66D deals to ‘penalty for cheating by personation by using computer resource’ for the uninitiated.