Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh is the latest celeb to fall victim to artificial intelligence (AI). A video of the Padmaavat actor has gone viral on the Internet, where he can be seen coming down hard on the current central regime in India, spearheaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The actor, soon to become a father, is allegedly asking people to choose their next government wisely, as the general elections are ongoing in India currently. Soon, it emerged that the clip was fake and was generated using AI.
Singh has also filed a complaint, based on which an FIR was registered against the X handle that promoted the content. He also put out a tweet: “Deepfake se bacho dostonnnn,” followed by a skull emoji, on April 19. The 38-year-old, however, isn’t the only celeb to be embroiled in such controversy.
Here’s a look at others who suffered similar embarrassment
Aamir Khan: Top Bollywood actor Aamir Khan filed a complaint a few days ago after a deepfake video of him, endorsing a political party, went viral. As per reports, the FIR was filed on Wednesday at the Khar police station in Mumbai, following a complaint by Khan’s office, under relevant Indian Penal Code sections, including 419 (impersonation), 420 (cheating) and provisions of the Information Technology Act, the official said.
Rashmika Mandanna: Last year, Rashmika Mandanna’s deepfake video hit the headlines as the actor’s face was purportedly swapped with the physique of a social media influencer and circulated online. A furious Mandanna registered a complaint, based on which the perpetrator was arrested from southern India’s Andhra Pradesh. Taking cognizance, the Delhi Police filed a case in the matter under sections 465 (forgery) and 469 (harming reputation) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and sections 66C (identity theft) and 66E (privacy violation) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Anil Kapoor: The Slumdog Millionaire actor managed to get a landmark verdict in his favour in 2023 pertaining to the use of AI. The Delhi High Court ruled that unauthorised use of Kapoor likeness cannot be executed, without prior permission from the actor. The lawsuit stated that Kapoor’s likeness and voice were used to create GIFs, emojis, ringtones and NSFW content. The court had also ordered domain registrar sites to take down two websites — anilkapoor.net, and anilkapoor.com — carrying Kapoor’s name.
The peril isn’t limited to Indian celebs. Their Hollywood counterparts too have experienced the horror.
Tom Hanks: Hollywood actor and multi-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks on October 23 took to Instagram to share his concern about the use of deepfake. He told his followers about a dental advertisement that used a purported video of the veteran actor. Hanks warned his followers not to fall for the trap.
Scarlett Johansson: After years of being targeted, actress Scarlett Johansson took legal action against an AI app developer for using her likeness to promote an advertisement. In 2018, the actor had said that it ‘doesn’t affect’ her, while speaking on AI-generated NSWF videos. “I think it’s a useless pursuit, legally, mostly because the internet is a vast wormhole of darkness that eats itself. There are far more disturbing things on the dark web than this, sadly. I think it’s up to an individual to fight for their own right to the their image, claim damages, etc,” The Washington Post quoted her as saying.
