Rashmika Mandanna Deepfake Row: IT Minister Vaishnaw Says Notice Issued to All Social Media Platforms

After a deepfake video of actor Rashmika Mandanna sparked outrage, the Central government has sent a notice to social media platforms highlighting penalties for the creation and circulation of such deepfakes.

In an exclusive conversation with CNN-News18, Union Minister for Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw confirmed that the notice has been issued to all intermediaries about compliance in the wake of the deepfake video and reminded them about action if they fail to comply.

In the notice, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology cited Section 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000 which deals with “punishment for cheating by personation by using computer resource”, NDTV sources reported.

The section says “whoever, by means of any communication device or computer resource cheats by personating, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to

fine which may extend to one lakh rupees.”

The Centre has also asked all social media platforms, including X, Instagram and Facebook to remove morphed images within 24 hours of receiving a complaint under the IT rules, an official source said on Tuesday.

The advisory mentions that social media intermediaries shall observe due diligence, including ensuring the rules and regulations, privacy policy or user agreement and inform users not to host any content that impersonates another person.

On Sunday, a deepfake video of the Pushpa star surfaced online. In the unverified video, the woman with Rashmika’s face was seen getting into a lift, wearing a fitted outfit. The video instantly went viral and a few social media users came forward to clarify that the video had been deepfaked.

Earlier, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said social media companies are bound to remove any misinformation and ensure that if any misinformation reported to them by any user or the government it is taken down within 36 hours.

“Under the IT rules notified in April 2023 it is a legal obligation for platforms to ensure no misinformation is posted by any user and ensure that when reported by any user or govt, misinformation is removed in 36 hrs,” he said. “Deepfakes are the latest and even more dangerous and damaging form of misinformation and need to be dealt with by platforms,” he said.

Mandanna expressed concern over her fake video in circulation. “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,” she said on X, formerly Twitter.

(With PTI inputs)