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The digitally altered footage has united several influential figures in support of Rashmika Mandanna and Zara Patel against the misuse of ‘deepfake’ technology.
A particularly alarming misuse of technology has helped to alert thousands of the downsides. Internet users have been warned over the dangers of artificial intelligence and deepfake software. Actress Rashmika Mandanna has received messages of support after her face appeared in a viral video that was originally posted by model and engineer Zara Patel.
Alarming deepfake video goes viral
In what is not the first disingenuous ‘deepfake’ video to go viral this year, footage appearing to show Mandanna, a celebrated Telugu language actress, began circulating over the weekend.
In a short clip that clocks in at around six seconds, a woman who appeared to be Mandanna could be seen rushing to enter an elevator, before greeting the person behind the camera. The person said: “I didn’t want to miss this elevator”, to which the person behind the camera replied “Damn girl”.
The clip itself was not necessarily explicit in its content, though it has generally been regarded as having a rather suggestive nature. It has prompted fears over how the clip’s creators may use footage of Mandanna, or anyone else, in the future.
Though the exact origins of the deepfake version are unknown, the original clip was first posted by Patell, a British-Indian model and engineer with a large Instagram following, on October 8.
Rashminda Mandanna and Zara Patel respond
Immediately concerned by what she saw, Mandanna took to Twitter on November 6 to condemn those who generated and perpetrated the misleading video.
She wrote: “I feel really hurt to share this and have to talk about the deepfake 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.
“Today, as a woman and as an actor, I am thankful for my family, friends and well wishers who are my protection and support system… We need to address this as a community and with urgency before more of us are affected by such identity theft. “
Patel, who has just 3000 followers in comparison to Mandanna’s 4.7 million responded.
She said: “Well it looks like people are making deep fakes of me looool” in response to the footage, before posting a rather ambiguous tweet which simply read “idk”.
Community rallies around Rashmika Mandanna after deepfake
Thankfully for both of the victims of the deepfake incident, the online community has been largely supportive. Various individuals offering to rally around to help stamp out similar incidents.
Hindi cinema legend and former politician Amitabh Bachchan was one of the many influential people to draw attention to Mandanna’s deepfake clip, declaring that there was “a strong case” for legal action to be taken.
Senior politicians such as Telangana legislator Kalvakuntla Kavitha also reached out to the Mission Majnu star. They wrote: “Urgent action is needed to safeguard Indian women from cyber threats”.
Fans of Mandanna’s flocked to her tweets in their thousands. One said: “Its great that she (Mandanna) has addressed it. As she rightly points out, for a normal person it would be life altering. This needs to be punished, urgently.”
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