Zara Patel said she is "worried" about the future of women and girls
The woman whose clip was used in a viral deepfake video of actor Rashmika Mandanna on Monday said that she is "deeply disturbed" and "upset" over the incident. Taking to her official Instagram account, Zara Patel said that she is "worried" about the future of women and girls who now have to "fear even more" about putting themselves on social media platforms.
"Hi all, it has come to my attention that someone created a deepfake video using my body and a popular Bollywood actress's face. I had no involvement with the deepfake video, and I'm deeply disturbed and upset by what is happening," the British-Indian influencer said in an Instagram story.
"I worry about the future of women and girls who now have to fear even more about putting themselves on social media. Please take a step back and fact-check what you see on the internet. Not everything on the internet is real," she added.
A video recently went viral that appeared to show Rashmika Mandanna entering an elevator. However, the woman in the video -- which was created using the deepfake technology -- was actually Zara Patel and not Ms Mandanna.
"Extremely scary": Rashmika Mandanna on her deepfake video
Actor Rashmika Mandanna also denounced her viral deepfake video that showed her entering an elevator and called it "extremely scary."
"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 wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
"Today, as a woman and as an actor, I am thankful for my family, friends and well wishers who are my protection and support system. But if this happened to me when I was in school or college, I genuinely can't imagine how could I ever tackle this. We need to address this as a community and with urgency before more of us are affected by such identity theft," she added.
Superstar Amitabh Bachchan was also outraged by the deepfake video of Rashmika Mandanna and called for legal action. Mr Bachchan and Ms Mandanna co-starred in the film Goodbye.
Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar also reminded the social media platforms of their legal obligations to fight misinformation, acknowledging a viral deepfake video featuring Rashmika Mandanna.
"PM Narendra Modi Ji's Govt is committed to ensuring Safety and Trust of all Digital Nagriks using Internet," he posted on X.
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 to remove that when reported by any user or government, he said.
"If platforms do not comply with this, rule 7 will apply and platforms can be taken to court by the aggrieved person under the provisions of IPC (Indian Penal Code). Deep fakes are latest and even more dangerous and damaging form of misinformation and needs to be dealt with by platforms," Mr Chandrasekhar added.