The IFSO unit of Delhi Police has registered an FIR in connection with a ‘deepfake’ video of actress Rashmika Mandanna, an official said on Saturday, adding that they have asked Meta to disclose the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the account responsible for sharing the video on social media.
The FIR was registered under sections 465 (forgery) and 469 (forgery for the purpose of harming reputation) of the Indian Penal Code. It also invokes sections 66C and 66E of the Information Technology Act.
This legal action was prompted by a complaint from the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), which took suo-moto cognizance of the ‘deepfake’ video involving the actress.
“After our notice, Delhi Police has registered an FIR in the @IAmRashmika fake video case. The accused will be arrested soon,” DCW chief Swati Maliwal wrote on X.
Taking a strong stance against the viral deepfake video of her, Rashmika had penned a long note on social media: “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. But if this happened to me when I was in school or college, I genuinely can’t imagine how could I ever tackle this. We need to address this as a community and with urgency before more of us are affected by such identity theft,” she added.