NEW DELHI: Tackling the escalating issue of deepfake videos featuring prominent Indian celebrities, including Rashmika Mandanna, Katrina Kaif, Kajol, and Alia Bhatt necessitates a blend of legal, technological, and social strategies, according to experts in the media industry.

Soumen Datta, associate partner at BDO India specialising in digital transformation, emphasises that deepfakes pose multiple threats to celebrities. These include damage to their public image and career prospects, as well as personal distress and a diminished sense of security. Celebrities may become victims of unauthorised explicit content, altered interviews, and a general decline in public trust.

To protect their image and privacy, numerous celebrities have begun to fight back against deepfakes. While some have taken legal steps to address issues of defamation and privacy, others have made public statements to increase awareness of deepfakes' deceptive qualities.

Datta said that celebrities can collaborate with social media platforms to identify and remove content that breaches platform guidelines, thereby helping to control the spread of falsified material online. "Addressing challenges related to deepfakes require a combination of legal, technological, and societal measures to prevent and mitigate the harm caused by deepfake content," he added.

Deepfakes, which are artificially generated audio or video materials, pose a significant threat to celebrities by enabling misuse of their likeness for various malicious purposes, such as identity theft, defamation, harassment, misinformation, privacy violations, and creation of unauthorised explicit content.

Rajat Prakash, managing partner at Athena Legal, points out that these offences can have widespread ramifications, affecting not only individuals and celebrities but also institutions and society at large. Addressing this issue in India requires advanced technology, stronger legal frameworks, and public education campaigns on the risks associated with these technologies. Collaboration between social media firms and policymakers is vital to safeguard individual rights and reputations in the digital era.

While there is no simple solution to this complex and evolving challenge, some celebrities have already begun to take action.

Actor Anil Kapoor, for instance, recently sought protection of his personality rights in the Delhi High Court, specifically in relation to deepfakes.

According to Abhay Chattopadhyay, partner at Economic Laws Practice, this indicates a growing trend among celebrities to seek legal remedies. He advocates for more comprehensive legal and regulatory frameworks to prevent, detect, and punish deepfake misuse.

Proposed measures include defining deepfake and related concepts like synthetic media and generative adversarial networks, as well as developing mechanisms for verifying and authenticating digital content origins, such as digital watermarking and blockchain technologies, Chattopadhyay said

 - TNS