 "PM Narendra Modi during his election campaign in Karnataka. (Photo: PTI)")
At a public meeting in Maharashtra’s Satara on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said political rivals were misusing technology to spread fake videos of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Bharatiya Janata (BJP) chief JP Nadda and himself on social media.
“By using technology, these people are making fake videos in my voice, which is creating danger. If you see any fake video, inform the police,” he said.
“There is a plan to create a big incident in the next one month,” the PM said.
He urged the Election Commission (EC) to take action against those responsible (for the video).
“I am making these allegations with a lot of seriousness. Games are being played to create social tension so that some untoward incident takes place,” Modi claimed.
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The PM cautioned people against forwarding such videos as the laws are strict, adding that he did not want innocent people to become victims of it.
In the national capital, a BJP delegation, led by Union minister Ashwani Vaishnaw, complained to the EC alleging that the Congress circulated a “deep fake and morphed” video of Shah to derail the poll process, and demanded strict action against those responsible.
The police forces of Delhi and Assam have launched probes into the circulation and sharing on social media of a doctored video of Shah. In Assam, the local police have arrested a Congress worker for allegedly circulating the video. The Delhi Police has asked Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, who had shared the video on X, to join its probe on May 1.
Addressing a Congress rally at Sedam in Karnataka, Reddy claimed that the PM has so far been using central agencies to win elections and is now using Delhi Police as well. The Telangana CM said he wasn’t one to be afraid by such notices.
On November 17, at an event at the BJP’s national headquarters here, the PM had urged the need for creating better awareness among people about the pitfalls of artificial intelligence, especially misuse with deep fakes.
If left unchecked, such deep fakes could cause social unrest in a diverse society such as India’s, he had said. The PM had then pointed to a video clip on social media, which purportedly showed him performing ‘garba’.
After the latest incident of Shah’s doctored video, Delhi Police has written to X and other social media platforms seeking information about the source of the video.
The special cell of the Delhi Police had on Sunday registered an FIR after the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), which is under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), filed a complaint about the doctored video of Shah. In the fake video, his statements in Telangana indicated a commitment to abolishing quota for the Muslim community on religious grounds was changed to make it seem he was advocating scrapping all reservations.
According to the FIR, the MHA, in its complaint, stated it has been found that some doctored videos are being circulated by users of Facebook and X.
The Delhi Police has served notices to five people, including Telangana CM Reddy, asking him to join the probe on May 1 and carry with him the mobile phone allegedly used for posting the video on X, official source said.
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said a Congress party worker was arrested on Monday for allegedly sharing a “fake video” of the Union home minister. The police arrested 31-year-old Reetom Singh, associated with the Assam Congress.
After lodging the complaint with the EC, Vaishnaw said, “The Congress wants to derail the entire election process through a deep fake and morphed video (of Amit Shah). We raised a complaint before the Election Commission on Monday against it. The Congress has tried to create confusion among people by posting a deep fake video from its official handle.”
