Sara Tendulkar Calls Out Impersonation and Deepfake Misuse on Social Media

Sara Tendulkar, daughter of cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar, took to social media to voice her concern over deepfake pictures of her being circulated by a ‘parody’ account on micro-blogging platform X (formerly Twitter).

In a statement posted on her official Instagram account, Sara expressed her dismay at the inappropriate use of technology, “Social media is a wonderful space for all of us to share our joys, sorrows, and daily activities. However, it is disconcerting to see the misuse of technology as it takes away from the truth and authenticity of the internet.”

She added that a few accounts on X have been created claiming to be parody accounts, but are clearly designed with the intent to mislead and impersonate her.

Sara also clarified that she does not have an account on X, and urged the platform to look into such accounts and suspend them. “I do not have an account on X, and I hope X looks into such accounts and suspends them,” the statement read.

READ THE FULL STATEMENT HERE:

“Social media is a wonderful space for all of us to share our joys, sorrows and daily activities.

However, it is disconcerting to see the misuse of technology as it takes away from the truth and authenticity of the internet. I have come across some deepfake photos of me which are far from reality.

A few accounts on X (formerly Twitter) have obviously been created with an intent to impersonate me and mislead people. I do not have an account on X, and I hope X looks into such accounts and suspends them.

Entertainment should never come at the expense of the truth. Let’s encourage communication that’s based in trust and reality.

There has been a growing concern over deepfake videos of celebrities and Bollywood stars surfacing on the internet and the misuse of artificial intelligence technology for creating morphed videos.

Couple of weeks back a viral deepfake video of actress Rashmika Mandanna brought the spotlight on the issue of AI deepfakes and the unregulated access of the growing Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology.

This is not an isolated incident of the misuse of AI deepfake against celebrities. A digitally manipulated video of Bollywood actress Kajol has also surfaced on the internet, where a woman with Kajol’s face photoshopped on her body is seen changing clothes on camera.

Mandanna’s morphed video left celebrities in shock with many, including actors Amitabh Bachchan, Keerthy Suresh, Mrunal Thakur, Ishaan Khatter and Naga Chaitanya calling for legal action.