~ Anubhooti Shaw
Introduction
The year 2020 has created a history in deepfakes. From creating an application for the same to using in election campaigns, deepfakes have made their evil space in our society. The arrival of this technology has led to misunderstandings and controversies throughout the globe. According to the Merriam-Webster.com, deepfake refers to "a video that has been edited using an algorithm to replace the person in the original video with someone else (especially a public figure) in a way that makes the video look authentic."
Internet is a blackhole where people get in but there is no sign of return. This entry becomes more dangerous when it paves the way to ruin someone's career and life as well. Deepfake is a part of the internet where an image of a person goes in the popular list either in good one or the bad. This is a direct infringement of personal rights and going away with it should not be an option. Introduced government intervention and legislation is the only way to protect those scattered rights.
Deepfakes and the Deep Venture
Deepfakes in India are mostly used to dishonour a person to gain anything with the help of blackmail. This act is common among the teenagers and youngsters. Bringing the Bollywood glitters and their horrors in, deepfake is also a part of this evergrowing industry. Producing pictures of the actors in unfavorable videos and images have also opened the intervention of pornography in this field. The circle of youngsters, deppfake, bollywood and pornography is not only vicious but shattering down lives and reputations.
This method of using the AI in the context of deepfake is not a child's play. It requires precision and stability to create a video or image which is believable. Since many applications have been introduced to meet such accuracy, therefore the manual work is reduced so much that even a teenager can build up a video or image of the same. This opens the gate for harassment and blackmail among them.
India has taken down over 500 adult websites since 2015 to tear down this circular chain. Unlike USA, India does not have any explicit law which can ban the deepfakes. Laws in India revolve around the main issue but don't specifically mention the fact. Therefore, Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 states punishment for defamation. Sections 67 and 67A of the IT Act (Information and Technology Act, 2000) declare the punishment for the publication of sexually explicit content in the form of electronic means. Thus, these laws clearly portray the insufficiency of these provisions in the modernising society.
Keeping aside the legislations, the most important factor which arises is the identification of th use in a video. The growing wound is not only creating confusion and malpractice but also hollow souls in the world. There is an urgent need of such algorithms which can detect the imperfections. The privacy of a person is totally crushed when this action is viewed as a right. But at the level of emotional tolerance, an innocent person is shattered throughout the process of this action.
In 2020, the use of deepfake was witnessed in the election agenda of a political party as well. A video surfaced in the internet through WhatsApp forwards where Manoj Tiwari, a leader from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) criticising the Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in Haryanvi dilect. This voice over and lip syncing was done by a voiceover artist and deepfake software respectively. A Chandigarh based company shook hands with the BJP's IT cell in Delhi to meet the results reported by digital news platform Vice. The explanation to the act was that it served as an experiment and not a part of the campaign.
Here is the deepfake video which was just a WhatsApp forward.
Mark Zuckerberg, former president Donald Trump, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and even Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos were not pardoned. Their video similarly surfaced in the internet to sabotage their work and create a disharmony among the public.
Conclusion
This conclusion will not only conclude but also portray certain suggestions. The use of deepfakes have incorporated an idea of several unprecedented access which can only be curbed out through the firm governmental legislations. A committee can be created to check the authenticity of videos in the public domain. This will ensure the security and origin of the video could be traced. If the origin cannot be found then the usage of blockchain technology could be used. Blockchain technology is a type of structure which contains data in several databases that would block the manipulative data and can block them through. Though some people use it for entertainment and serious purposes but then it is a clear infringement of personal right. Education is the most important thing the human race can inculcate in themselves. The awareness of these rights and remedies need the limelight which will eventually scoop the evil out of the society.
References:
Information and Technology Act, 2000
Indian Penal Code, 1860
● https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/deepfake-slang-definition-examples
● https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vice.com/amp/en/article/jgedjb/the-first-use-of-deepfakes-in-indian-election-by-bjp
● https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.news18.com/amp/news/tech/deepfake-hits-indian-polity-brings-privacy-concerns-as-pornography-scare-looms-large-2510263.html
● https://www.google.com/amp/s/magazine.outlookindia.com/story/amp/deepfakes-with-artificial-intelligence/300966
● https://www.google.com/amp/s/jilsblognujs.wordpress.com/2020/07/19/are-indian-laws-equipped-to-deal-with-deepfakes/amp/