AI-generated deepfakes are emerging as a serious danger in India — not just as a tool for scams, but as a means of manipulation and public shaming that violate personal dignity and trust, according to experts.
These synthetic videos and audios are being misused in a variety of settings: corporate fraud, political smears, and attacks on private citizens. In one worrying trend, fraudsters are using deepfake voices or likenesses of business executives to commit financial fraud and impersonation. In politics, manipulated media is being deployed to misrepresent statements or actions of leaders, while ordinary individuals face digital humiliation and defamation.
A major challenge is the lack of strong legal safeguards and the slow pace of detection technologies. While tools are being developed to identify deepfakes, current defenses are not yet robust enough to stop widespread misuse.
The Indian government is taking note: the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is funding research to create more accurate deepfake detection systems. But experts argue more must be done — including enforcing stricter penalties, strengthening regulations, and building a faster legal framework to protect people’s identity and dignity in the digital age.
As deepfakes proliferate, they threaten to erode personal privacy, damage reputations, and undermine trust in online media — raising urgent questions about how society can defend itself against this rising AI-powered threat.