'These videos are fake, should take swift action'; Sachin Tendulkar becomes latest victim of Deepfake

MUMBAI: Several celebrities recently became victims of Deepfake videos. After the deepfake videos of actresses such as Rashmika Mandanna, Kareena Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Aishwarya Rai surfaced on social media, the central government said it would take strong action against those behind these videos. Now, cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar has become the latest victim of Deepfake. It was Sachin himself who revealed this through his Twitter page.

In the video, Sachin Tendulkar's Video and Voice have been manipulated to make it sound like Tendulkar was promoting an app. After spotting the manipulation, Tendulkar took to X cautioning his fans and the public that the video was fake and asked people to report such applications, videos and advertisements.

He also tagged the Maharashtra Cyber Police, Union Electronics and Information Technology Ministry and Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrashekar, in his tweet.

"These videos are fake. It is disturbing to see rampant misuse of technology. Request everyone to report videos, ads & apps like these in large numbers. Social media platforms need to be alert and responsive to complaints. Swift action from their end is crucial to stopping the spread of misinformation and fake news. @GoI_MeitY, @Rajeev_GoI and @MahaCyber1," tweeted Sachin.

These videos are fake. It is disturbing to see rampant misuse of technology. Request everyone to report videos, ads & apps like these in large numbers.

Social Media platforms need to be alert and responsive to complaints. Swift action from their end is crucial to stopping the… pic.twitter.com/4MwXthxSOM

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) January 15, 2024

Notably, on November 6 last year, a modified video of actor Rashmika Mandanna appeared online sparking discussions of digital safety. In the viral video, it can be seen that a woman resembling the actress Rashmika was entering a lift wearing a black swimsuit. The video quickly went viral and several social media users came forward to confirm that it was a deep fake. It was later identified that the video was of a British actress, Zara Patel. The actor strongly reacted to the alleged deep fake video and said, "I feel really hurt to share this and have to talk about the deep fake video of me being spread online. Something like this is honestly, extremely scary not only for me but also for each one of us who today is vulnerable to so much harm because of how technology is being misused."

Amid that deep fake video issue, Union Minister for Communications, Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw said that notices were issued to all social media platforms directing them to take necessary steps to identify and remove such content.

Vaishnaw had said, "Deep fake is a big issue for all of us. We recently issued notices to all the big social media forms, asking them to take steps to identify deepfakes, for removing those content. The social media platforms have responded. They are taking action. We have told them to be more aggressive in this work."