Deepfakes of Bollywood stars raise concerns in Indian elections

In fake videos that have gone viral on the internet, two of Bollywood's top actors are seen criticizing India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asking people to vote for the opposition Congress Party in the country's ongoing general elections.

In a 30-second video with Aamir Khan and a 41-second video with Ranveer Singh, the two actors allegedly say that Modi failed to fulfill his campaign promises and did not address critical economic issues during his two terms as prime minister.

The two videos generated by artificial intelligence end with the electoral symbol of the Congress Party and the slogan: “Vote for Justice, Vote for Congress”.

The two videos have been viewed on social media more than half a million times since last week, according to a Reuters analysis.

The spread highlights the potential role that AI-generated content could play in the Indian elections that began on Friday (19) and will continue until June. AI and AI-generated fakes, or deepfakes, are increasingly being used in elections in other parts of the world, including in the United States, Pakistan and Indonesia.

Election campaigns in India have long focused on door-to-door outreach and public rallies, but extensive use of WhatsApp and Facebook as campaign tools began in 2019. This year's election – in which Modi is expected to secure a rare third term — it's the first in which AI is being used.

A Congress Party spokesperson, Sujata Paul, shared the video of actor Singh with her 16,000 followers on 438,000 views.

Paul told Reuters by phone that he was aware the video was marked as “manipulated media” by X, but did not want to delete it because when he posted it he thought the person looked like Singh and “definitely has creativity.”

The post was no longer visible on X on Sunday (21), hours after Reuters sent a request for comment to the head of the Congress Party's social media unit, who did not respond.

The two actors said the videos are fake. Facebook, X and at least eight fact-checking sites said they had been altered or manipulated, which Reuters' digital verification unit also confirmed.

Reuters was unable to determine who created the videos. Khan was “alarmed” by the “fake” viral video and Singh’s team was investigating the matter, according to a spokesperson for both actors. Singh wrote on X on Friday: “Beware of deepfakes, friends.”

Modi's office and the information technology chief of his party, the Indian People's Party, did not respond to requests for comment.