Police said on Wednesday that they have tracked down four of the suspects who uploaded a deepfake video of actor Rashmika Mandana online and are currently searching for the main conspirator. The police stated that they were still searching for the main conspirator in the case and that the four suspects had actually turned out to be uploaders rather than creators. Three of the four suspects have been followed up on thanks to information supplied by Meta, the company that runs social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
The accused allegedly removed and deleted information from their accounts, making it difficult for authorities to find them, which presented a challenge to the investigation. The primary conspirator behind the post is currently being sought after by the cyber experts of the Delhi Police. The actor was probably using a fictitious identity when uploading the deepfake videos, and the usage of a Virtual Private Network (VPN) makes it even harder to find the culprit. The deepfake AI-generated video of actress Rashmika Mandana was the subject of a First Information Report (FIR) filed by the Delhi Police at the Special Cell one month ago.
Prior to this, the Delhi Commission for Women had also requested action in response to the actress Rashmika Mandana deepfake video that went viral on social media. On November 18, Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Union Minister for Communications, Electronics, and IT, announced that notices had been sent to all social media platforms instructing them to take the appropriate action to locate and delete such content. After receiving a letter from the Delhi Police IFSO (Internet Freedom and Safety for Online Users) unit, Meta (formerly Facebook) replied that it was unable to provide information about the deleted account.
According to the sources, since GoDaddy is a publicly traded internet domain registry, a similar profile was also created through GoDaddy, and the police are waiting for a response.
In a media interaction on November 18, Ashwini Vaishnaw emphasised the peril of deepfakes by saying, “Deepfake is a big issue for all of us.” All of the major social media platforms have received notices from us recently requesting that they take action to detect and remove deepfakes.Social media sites have answered back. They are doing something about it. We’ve instructed them to approach this task with greater vigour.”
Actor Rashmika Mandanna’s edited video surfaced online on November 6, igniting conversations about online safety. A woman who looked like actress Rashmika was seen getting into an elevator while decked out in a black swimsuit in the widely shared video. As soon as the video went viral, a number of people on social media confirmed that it was a deepfake.
