Indian actress Rashmika Mandanna calls on women to speak out against deepfake videos.
Following the recent targeting of her with a deepfake film, Indian actress Rashmika Mandanna has asked people not to share such content.
She specifically exhorted young ladies to speak up if they were being bullied using such materials.
Weeks after a deepfake video about her went viral on social media, Ms. Mandanna released the message.
A British-Indian woman uploaded an Instagram video in which the star’s visage was altered.
The encounter had seemed “extremely scary” to her at the time.
The 27-year-old actress stated on Monday that she realized posting these kinds of films shouldn’t become commonplace after receiving support from her peers in the film industry.
She spoke to the reporters on Monday, “I felt safe and secure because of the support.”
I would like to inform all girls that this is not typical. You don’t have to say nothing when something is hurting you.”
Soon after her deepfake went viral, Ms. Mandanna posted a comment on X, a platform that was once Twitter. She said, “If this happened to me when I was in school or college, I genuinely can’t imagine how could I ever tackle this.”
The actor urged urgent attention to be paid to the matter “before more of us are affected by such identity theft” and expressed gratitude to her family and friends for their support.
Ashwini Vaishnaw, India’s Minister of Information Technology, has referred to these deepfake films as a “new threat to democracy”.
At a meeting with artificial intelligence firms and social media platforms last week, Mr. Vaishnaw presided over the announcement that the federal government will shortly unveil a “clear, actionable plan” to combat deepfakes.
The actress has received numerous accolades for her performances in Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada, among other languages in which she has worked.
Her next film appearance will be alongside actor Ranbir Kapoor in the December 1 release of Animal, a Bollywood production.
