The North News
New Delhi, February 4
Rajya Sabha Congress member Akhilesh Prasad Singh on Wednesday raised concerns on the misuse of deepfakes and artificial intelligence in spreading misinformation and facilitating crimes, calling for changes in laws to curb cybercrimes.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the Upper House, the Bihar-based MP said, “Today, the entire world is in grave danger of the misuse of deepfake and artificial intelligence. The use of these techniques can be used to spread false information, to copy people, to influence public opinion, to trouble citizens, and to weaken personal, public trust and democratic institutions.”
Singh said AI techniques, especially deepfake tools that produce realistic-looking fake audio, video and pictures, have posed unprecedented challenges to the administrative system, legal system and democratic processes.
“The use of deepfakes on a global scale, the rapid theft of political identity, torture, fraud, and the spread of social illusion is being done,” he said.
According to a European Commission report on cybercrime, more than 90 per cent of online content used in cybercrime will be based on deepfakes, Singh said.
Citing examples of misuse, the MP said during the Slovakia presidential election in 2023, AI-generated deepfake audio was broadcast in the voice of a candidate just before the vote, raising serious questions about the impartiality of the election.
During the 2024 US election, an appeal was made to voters not to vote for Joe Biden through deepfake technology, following which the government had to launch a joint investigation, Singh said.
During the election in Taiwan, deepfake activities related to foreign elements were also reported, he added.
“These events show that AI is very fast at spreading false information. Fraud is happening all over the world. Even in India, the old law needs to be changed,” Singh said.
