Rashmika Mandanna hurt by 'scary' deepfake of her, Amitabh Bachchan lends support

Star highlighted the vulnerability of individuals to technological misuse

The viral circulation of a deepfake video featuring Indian actor Rashmika Mandanna has stirred significant concern and discussions on the adverse impact of such manipulated content. Mandanna, an acclaimed 27-year-old star predominantly known for her work in Telugu and Kannada films, expressed her distress over the fabricated deepfake video, describing it as "extremely scary".

The video, originally posted on Instagram by a British-Indian woman named Zara Patel, showcased Mandanna's face morphed onto Patel's body. Abhishek Kumar, a journalist associated with the fact-checking platform Alt News, exposed the video as a deepfake. He emphasised the seamless alteration of Mandanna's face onto Patel's in an elevator scenario, raising concerns about the deceptive nature of deepfakes, easily misleading ordinary social media users.

The original video is of Zara Patel, a British-Indian girl with 415K followers on Instagram. She uploaded this video on Instagram on 9 October. (2/3) pic.twitter.com/MJwx8OldJU

— Abhishek (@AbhishekSay) November 5, 2023

Veteran Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, who previously worked with Mandanna, voiced support for legal action against such deceptive content. Mandanna echoed her apprehensions, highlighting the vulnerability of individuals to technological misuse and the profound impact it can have on their lives. She emphasised the urgent need for a legal framework to combat deepfake threats.

I feel really hurt to share this and have to talk about the deepfake video of me being spread online.

Something like this is honestly, extremely scary not only for me, but also for each one of us who today is vulnerable to so much harm because of how technology is being misused.…

— Rashmika Mandanna (@iamRashmika) November 6, 2023

yes this is a strong case for legal https://t.co/wHJl7PSYPN

— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) November 5, 2023

Responding to the deepfake incident, Patel expressed deep concern and anxiety, specifically about the heightened fear and vulnerability women and girls might experience when sharing content on social media platforms.

According to BBC India, India's IT Minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar stressed the gravity of deepfakes, labelling them as a more perilous form of misinformation. He stressed the obligation of social media platforms to prevent the dissemination of misinformation by users as per India's IT rules, underscoring potential legal consequences for non-compliant platforms.

The incident involving the circulation of the deepfake video has sparked calls for more stringent measures to counteract this form of digital manipulation, highlighting the urgent need for robust regulatory frameworks to protect individuals from such deceptive practices.

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