'More dangerous and damaging': MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar on deepfake video featuring 'Pushpa' actor Rashmika Mandanna

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday responded to deepfake video allegedly featuring Pushpa fame actor Rashmika Mandanna. Chandrasekhar said in his recent post on X formerly known as Twitter that such "damaging misinformation need to be dealt with by platforms". He added that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government is "committed to ensuring safety and trust of all DigitalNagriks using internet". 

"PM Narendra Modi ji's government is committed to ensuring safety and trust of all DigitalNagriks using internet. Under the IT rules notified in April, 2023-- it is a legal obligation for platforms to -- 1. ensure no misinformation is posted by any user AND, ensure that when reported by any user or govt, misinformation is removed in 36 hours, If platforms do not comply with us, rule 7 will apply and platforms can be taken to court by aggrieved person under provisions of IPC. Deepfakes are latest and even more dangerous and damaging form of misinformation and needs to be dealt with by platforms," Chandrasekhar wrote in his post on X. 

A video featuring Mandanna went viral on social media as it has garnered tremendous traction on X. The video shows the Pushpa actor entering an elevator. Abhishek Kumar, a journalist and a researcher, had shared the video on X and written that there is an urgent need for a legal and regulatory framework to tackle the issue of rising deepfakes in India. 

He further said that this video, which seems to feature Rashmika Mandanna, is actually a deepfake video of Zara Patel. Patel is a British-Indian citizen with around 415,000 followers on Instagram. Patel had shot the same video of herself wearing a black outfit and entering an elevator on October 9. 

"From a deepfake POV, the viral video is perfect enough for ordinary social media users to fall for it. But if you watch the video carefully, you can see at (0:01) that when Rashmika (deepfake) was entering the lift, suddenly her face changes from the other girl to Rashmika," Abhishek explained on X. 

Rashmika Mandanna was last spotted in the Bollywood movie Goodbye opposite megastar Amitabh Bachchan. Reacting to the viral deepfake video featuring Mandanna, Bachchan said that deepfakes are a "strong case for legal". 

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