Hyderabad: A Friday morning tweet by IT minister K.T. Rama Rao that was circulated across the party’s social media groups cautions the cadre to stay vigilant against deepfake videos, and other forms of nonsensical propaganda being spread by opposition parties, over the next few days.
The darker side of technology was to the fore from the time the polling date was announced in the state. Several videos of politicians are getting trolled, including their conversations on phone or videos about wrong-doings. The voter is confused about the authenticity of such posts and trolls.
Some politicians caught on a sticky wicket are resorting to the ‘it is a fake video’ blabber so that they can avoid possible wrath of the voters on D-Day.
Incidentally, by the time the labs test results of such videos come, the Assembly elections would have been completed. Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Thursday that the Centre will be coming up with stringent rules and regulations against deepfake, synthetic media that mimics authentic images, videos and audios to prevent online dissemination of such posts. Action will be taken against companies indulging in such dubious practices, he warned.
Meanwhile, Suryanaryana Reddy, managing director of Smart n Code Technologies, said, “Software engineers slog to create innovations that can make human lives better. It pains us to see that they are used for wrong purposes by vested interests. Such cunning elements also devise replicas and wreak havoc.”
Actor and director Parameshwar Hivrale, whose movies revolve around social issues, said “like how it is helping us in every walk of life, technology and AI are becoming dangerous tools in the hands of criminals, who resort to face morphing and voice command using the same technology. The general targets are public figures and celebrities. This can be halted if there is strict enforcement of punitive policies.”
