WhatsApp’s Tipline has become a trusted resource for raising public awareness against deepfakes in India at a time when the country is hosting its biggest elections. It was created by the Misinformation Combat Alliance’s (MCA) Deepfakes Analysis Unit (DAU). Tipline was launched in India back in March 2024 and has received hundreds of messages where users asked for help in decoding if an image is real or fake.
WhatsApp reveals that users can flag AI-manipulated content on WhatsApp using audio notes or videos and sending it to the tipline. WhatsApp tipline is available in several languages like Hindi, Tamil, Telugu along with English.
It further revealed that most of the manipulated content that they received from WhatsApp users was doctored videos where the original voice of a person was changed into saying something else using AI. These videos featured prominent personalities like actors, businessmen, politicians and TV anchors. In addition to this, memes of politicians and their likenesses created using AI “involved face-blending techniques or cheaper techniques lacking sophistication”.
WhatsApp tipline also analysed that the mouth of the subject had been recreated using generative AI so that their lips synced with the altered audio that they embedded in the video to create a deepfake.
How to use WhatsApp tipline?
You will then receive an assessment report on whether a piece of media is AI-generated or contains elements of it.
Pamposh Raina, Head of the DAU, stated, “The strength of the DAU lies in the collaborative model which it is building by partnering with detection and forensic experts, which in turn is helping DAU's fact-checking partners who are an integral part of this project. At the end of the day, our goal is to drive public awareness on the issue of algorithm-based fabrication and I am confident that this kind of a symbiotic model can be replicated across the globe to combat misinformation spread through audio and video content produced using generative A.I.”
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