In today’s digital world we can’t believe what we see, what once looked real can now be completely fake, thanks to the powerful technology called deep fake. from fake celebrity photos to fake political news that goes viral overnight, deep fake is changing the truth that we see online. While this technology can be used for creativity it is being misused for defamation, online harassment and cybercrime. India is facing a growing challenge in the misuse of this technology.
Deep fake is an AI technology use to create convincing fake images, videos and audio recording, it transform the existing source and swapped it with another person, it also create content which seems like original but in reality its fake, at first deep fake was used for fun purposes but soon it gave new ideas to the criminals and they used it for spreading misinformation, financial fraud, identity theft, and online abuse especially against women.
RECENT INCIDENTS IN INDIA
In recent years several deep fake related incident caught national attention;
A fake video of Rashmika mandanna was widely circulated online, leading to public outrage and police investigation.
Another video of a political leader went viral before election to mislead the voters.
These cases show how deep fake can be weaponized to harm reputation, influence public opinion and commit financial crime with just a click.
LEGAL FRAMEWORK IN INDIA
In India information technology act,2000 deals with digital crimes, though it was drafted long before AI and deep fake existed, still some sections can apply:
Section 66D: penalize cheating by personation using computer or communication device, this section criminalizes a person for deceiving someone by impersonation another person in digital context, the punishment is imprisonment up to three years or fine up to one lakh rupees.
Section 67 and 67A: deal with publishing and transmitting obscene or sexually explicit material online.
Section 67: this section deals with publishing or transmitting any material which is sexual in electronic form. Punishment is up to three years and a fine up to five lakh rupees for the first conviction and fine up to ten lakh rupees for subsequent convictions.
Section 67A: this section deals with more serious offences, specially for publishing or transmitting material containing sexual act or explicit conduct. Punishment up to five years of imprisonment and fine up to the lakh rupees for the first conviction and imprisonment up to seven years and fine up to ten lakh rupees for subsequent convictions.
Section 66E: intentionally or knowingly capture, publish or transmit the image of a person private area without their consent, this section protects the privacy of a person. punishment is imprisonment up to three years or fine up to two lakhs, or both.
Apart from this the Bhartiya nyaya sanhita 2023 which replace the Indian panel code also include offences related to identity theft, defamation and forgery using digital tool. In addition, the government recently introduced the DIGITAL INDIA BILL 2025 expected to replace the IT Act of 2000 this new law aims to specifically address modern digital crime.
CHALLENGES
Even with the existing law it is difficult to handle deep fake crimes.
Detection is complex: many deep fakes looks very reals and only advance software can detect them.
Lack of awareness: people often believe what they saw online without verifying the source.
Slow legal process: tracing the origin of deep fake is hard because content spread rapidly and anonymously across platforms.
Limited expertise: many law enforcement agencies still lack technical training and AI tools to investigate these crimes.
CONCLUSION
As a result, even when victims report cases investigation often get delay or fail to identify the original creator. Legal debate aside the deep fake has emotional and social impact specially to female victims who often face humiliation, anxiety and loss of reputation when fake videos went viral and in some cases this video often leads to cyberbullying.
Deep fakes are powerful remainder that technology if misused can destroy trust and the foundation of any society while innovation is unstoppable the law must evolve to protect citizen from deception and harm. As India steps into a new era of digital transformation the challenges are clear to build a system where technology serves truth and not falsehood.
CONTRIBUTED BY SWEETA NAMASUDRA (INTERN)