Katrina Kaif's morphed image went viral after Rashmika's video, fans react

Indian actress Katrina Kaif's morphed image also went viral from the Tiger 3 movie. This raises concern among the film industry and fans. Here's all you need to know about deepfake

The Indian film industry is being targeted through a disturbing trend of deepfake technology. A few days after a deepfake video of Rashmika Mandanna went viral on social media, a morphed image of fellow actress Katrina Kaif from the Tiger 3 movie has been shared online.

The original image is from Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif starrer Tiger 3, where Katrina can be seen fighting with Hollywood actress Michelle Lee, both in towels. The morphed image shows the actress in a low-cut bralette, which makes the image vulgar. However, the morphed image was removed from social media. The incident drew fans' concern over such morphing images spreading online, especially if this is the second high-profile case within a few days.

 

A few days ago, Rashmika Mandhana was seen in a situation she was never in with the help of a deepfake AI tool. The video shows Rashmika entering an elevator. 

Although the original video featured Zara Patel, a British-Indian influencer, the morphed video replaced her image with the Indian actress. This has raised concern among the film fraternity and their fans about the potential misuse and the need for legal measures combating its proliferation.

What are deepfake videos?

Deepfake videos are fabricated or misleading content produced with the help of AI tools, which can modify and superimpose an individual's face onto videos and images. The deekfake technology appeared a few years ago and it is majorly used by cyber criminals to produce morphed content, most of which are pornographic in nature. 

The deepfake technology uses powerful graphic cards to modify and recreate elements of images and videos to spread misinformation. It is worth mentioning that altering images or videos can be a punishable offence. 

How to identify deepfake videos?

A deepfake video can be identified through unnatural expressions or movements like blinking too often or not enough, or movements that are too jerky or stiff. Eyes could be the best way to identify if a video is real or morphed. Deepfake videos may have blurry or unfocused eyes which don't match the person's head movements.

How is the Indian government reacting to it?

Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, while retweeting the video on X, mentioned that PM @narendramodi ji's Govt 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

>ensure no misinformation is posted by any user  AND

>ensure that when reported by any user or govt, misinformation is removed in 36 hrs

>If platforms do not comply with this, rule 7 will apply and platforms can be taken to court by aggrieved persons under provisions of IPC.

>Deepfakes are the latest and even more dangerous and damaging form of misinformation and need to be dealt with by platforms.