No, Aamir, Ranveer weren’t endorsing any party: How to fact-check, identify deepfakes during elections
Videos of Bollywood stars Aamir Khan and Ranveer Singh endorsing a political party went viral on social media just ahead of the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections. They were fake. As the threat of disinformation looms large, we explain how to identify misinformation and inauthentic content
prativad 
As the Lok Sabha elections kick off, the digital landscape becomes a battleground for truth versus fiction. Among the myriad instances of misinformation flooding social media platforms, two prominent figures, Bollywood actors Aamir Khan and Ranveer Singh, found themselves unwittingly entangled in the web of disinformation.
In the lead-up to the elections, two manipulated videos featuring actor Khan made waves across cyberspace. These altered versions of a promo of Khan’s renowned TV show, Satyamev Jayate, painted a distorted picture of his political affiliations. One depicted Khan seemingly endorsing the Congress party, while the other cunningly echoed the party’s rhetoric of “nyay” (justice), coinciding with the title of its manifesto.
Adding to the chaos, actor Ranveer Singh fell victim to deepfake technology, where a manipulated video portrayed him lambasting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on issues of national concern. However, the original clip revealed Singh’s praise for the PM, highlighting the insidious nature of manipulated media.
In an age of information blitzkrieg, how do we distinguish the real from the fake?
How is a deepfake created?
The process of crafting deepfake videos involves a sophisticated interplay of artificial intelligence algorithms, particularly the utilisation of “voice swap” technology. Platforms like itisaar.ai, in collaboration with institutions such as IIT Jodhpur, shed light on the intricate steps involved in fabricating these deceptive videos, reported The Indian Express.
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