Fake videos of Modi collaborators cause tension in Indian elections | Misinformation

The release of manipulated videos of two of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s main collaborators is increasing tension in India’s election campaign. The sharing of the videos has already led to the arrest of some workers from his rival party, the opposition Indian National Congress.

Modi last week denounced the use of fake voices that lead leaders to make “unthinkable statements”, calling it a conspiracy “to create tension in society”.

Indian police — already investigating the spread of fake videos showing Bollywood actors criticizing Modi — are now investigating a doctored online clip showing Federal Home Minister Amit Shah saying that his party, Modi’s Bharatiya Janata (BJP), in power, will end certain social guarantees for minorities, a sensitive issue for millions of voters.

Shah responded on social media site X, publishing his “original” speech and the edited “fake” speech, claiming — without presenting any evidence — that the Indian National Congress, the main opposition party, was behind the creation of the video to deceive the public. The minister said that “instructions have been given to the police to resolve this issue”.

Indian police detained at least nine people, including six members of Congress’ social media teams, in the states of Assam, Gujarat, Telangana and New Delhi last week on suspicion of circulating the fake video.

Five of the Congress workers were released on bail, but the most high-profile arrest made by the Delhi police’s cybercrime unit occurred on Friday, when they detained a national social media coordinator for the Congress, Arun Reddy, for sharing the video . New Delhi, the Indian capital, is where Shah’s ministry directly controls the police.

The arrest sparked protests from Congress workers, with many posting on X with the tag ReleaseArunReddy . MP Manickam Tagore said the detention was an example of “authoritarian abuse of power by the regime”.

The Congress party’s social media director, Supriya Shrinate, did not respond to messages and an email from Reuters.

AI and disinformation in India

The Indian elections, which have been running since April 19th and end on June 1st, are the biggest democratic event in the world.

With nearly a billion voters and more than 800 million internet users, combating the spread of misinformation is a high-stakes task. It implies permanent control by the police and electoral authorities, who frequently issue orders to remove content from Facebook and X.

In India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, more than 500 people monitor online content, pointing out posts controversial issues and coordinating with social media companies to remove them when necessary, police chief Prashant Kumar told Reuters on Saturday.

Another doctored video that caused controversy last week showed Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh state, criticizing Modi for not doing enough for the families of those who died in a terrorist attack in 2019. Although fact-checkers said the video was created using different parts of another video, this one original, the state police said it was “deepfake generated by AI” (artificial intelligence).

Using Internet address tracking, state police arrested a man named Shyam Gupta on May 2, who had shared the fake video on X a day earlier, receiving more than 3,000 views and 11 likes.

Police charged Gupta with forgery and promoting enmity, charges that could carry a prison sentence of up to seven years if convicted. Reuters was unable to contact him as he is currently serving a 14-day pre-trial detention sentence.

“This person is not a technician. If he had technical knowledge, it would not have been possible to arrest him quickly,” said senior police officer Kumar.