The Maharashtra cyber cell has initiated legal action against an unidentified individual, referred to as “X user,” for allegedly sharing a manipulated or ‘deepfake’ video featuring actor Ranveer Singh. In the video, Singh appears to endorse the Congress party, contrary to his actual statements praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a media interview in Varanasi. The FIR was lodged based on a complaint filed by Singh’s father, Jugjeet Singh Bhavnani, naming the user @sujataindia1st as the perpetrator.
The complaint alleges that @sujataindia1st created a deepfake video where Singh is portrayed as expressing political views supportive of the Congress party, in contrast to his authentic remarks. Singh’s father clarified that the actor maintains no affiliation with any political party and did not make the statements attributed to him in the manipulated video. The FIR includes charges under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, such as 417 (cheating), 468 (forgery), and 469 (defamation), along with provisions of the Information Technology Act.
This incident underscores the growing concern over the spread of deepfake videos, which convincingly alter content to misrepresent individuals and fabricate statements. It follows a similar case involving a deepfake video of Bollywood actor Aamir Khan endorsing a political party, for which the city police also registered an FIR against an unidentified perpetrator. Investigations into both cases are ongoing to identify and take legal action against those responsible for creating and disseminating the misleading content.
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