Mumbai Cyber Police register FIR: Sachin Tendulkar deepfake video case

Mumbai Cyber Police filed a formal complaint (FIR) under applicable sections against the gaming app for altering an old footage of former Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar for a fictitious marketing campaign. On Monday, the master of batting took to X to warn everyone about a deepfake video of himself that was being exploited to advertise an app. Sachin’s voice was edited in the video to give the impression that the renowned batter was endorsing the app. Additionally, it was incorrectly claimed in the video that Sara Tendulkar, Sachin’s daughter, uses the app frequently. In his tweet, he also mentioned Rajeev Chandrashekar, the Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, the Maharashtra Cyber Police, and the Union Electronics and Information Technology Ministry.

The Union Minister thanked Tendulkar on X for bringing attention to the video. According to him, deepfakes and artificial intelligence-driven misinformation pose a risk to the security and confidence of Indian users, and platforms must abide by the Center’s warning. “I appreciate @sachin_rt sending this tweet. The safety and trust of Indian users are at risk from #DeepFakes and misinformation fueled by #AI, which constitutes harm and a legal violation that platforms must stop and remove. According to a recent advisory from @GoI_MeitY, platforms must fully comply with this. In order to guarantee platform compliance, we will shortly be informing stricter guidelines under the IT Act,” Chandrasekhar wrote on X.

The Union Minister thanked Tendulkar on X for bringing attention to the video. According to him, deepfakes and artificial intelligence-driven misinformation pose a risk to the security and confidence of Indian users, and platforms must abide by the Center’s warning. “I appreciate @sachin_rt sending this tweet. The safety and trust of Indian users are at risk from #DeepFakes and misinformation fueled by #AI, which constitutes harm and a legal violation that platforms must stop and remove. According to a recent advisory from @GoI_MeitY, platforms must fully comply with this. In order to guarantee platform compliance, we will shortly be informing stricter guidelines under the IT Act,” Chandrasekhar wrote on X.

Notably, on November 6 of last year, actor Rashmika Mandanna’s altered footage surfaced online, igniting conversations about internet safety. Soon after the video went viral, a number of social media users confirmed that it was a deep fake. Later on, it was discovered that the actress in the video was British.