Amid the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, deepfake videos of political leaders are proliferating social media and creating a lot of buzz. The latest of such videos, a spoof of Prime Minister Narendra Modi walking and dancing on a stage had gone viral.
The deepfake video has been shared on X (formerly Twitter) by a user called ‘Atheist_Krishna’ who also wrote, “Posting this video because I know that ‘The DICTATOR’ is not going to get me arrested for this.”
The video was posted just hours ahead of the third phase of polling of Lok Sabha elections 2024 on May 7. The video showed the Prime Minister in a different avatar dancing on a stage at a concert.
How PM Modi reacted to his deepfake video?
PM Modi expressed delight over the animated video of him dancing at a concert and said: “Like all of you, I also enjoyed seeing myself dance. Such creativity in peak poll season is truly a delight.”
He also used laughing emojis and a hashtag, #PollHumour in his response.
The response shared by PM Modi is seen as an apparent dig at his critics who accuse him of being dictatorial.
Last month Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-SP) chief Sharad Pawar warned against voting PM Modi back to power, claiming that he will “impose dictatorship” in India. “It will be dangerous to give another opportunity to Narendra Modi,” Pawar had alleged.
In March, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien accused PM Modi of behaving like a “tin-pot dictator,” and claimed that the BJP-led government at the Centre was arresting opposition leaders in its desperation to secure win the LS polls 2024.
Modi’s deepfake video after Mamata Banerjee’s spoof clip
The PM’s deepfake video came shortly after a similar spoof clip featuring West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee was shared online by two users on Monday (May 6).
The users who shared Mamata Banerjee’s deepfake video were issued notices from the Cyber Crime division of Kolkata Police and were directed to immediately disclose their identity including name and residence. The cops later deleted the posts and the video continued to be circulated widely.
Recently, deepfake videos featuring Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi were posted on certain social media handles which were taken down and criminal complaints were filed.
What the original video shows?
The original video shows American rapper Lil Yachty entering the stage at an event. The video, which was initially posted on June 21, 2022, on YouTube soon become a popular meme template with people using Sora AI to replace Yachty with renowned figures, including Hitler and DC supervillain Joker.
EC instructs political parties
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India (ECI), on Monday, instructed political parties to remove fake content from their social media platforms within three hours of those being brought to their notice. The Commission also cautioned against the misuse of AI tools for creating deepfakes, emphasising the importance of maintaining electoral integrity.
“Whenever such deepfake audios/videos come to the notice of political parties, they shall immediately take down the post but maximum within a period of three hours and also identify and warn the responsible person within the party,” the EC said.
Parties have also been directed to report unlawful information and fake user accounts to the respective platforms and escalate persistent issues to the Grievance Appellate Committee under Rule 3A of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
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PM Modi called ‘THE DICTATOR’ in viral deepfake video, here’s how he reacted
