Journalist Ravish Kumar says deepfake video of him being used to promote alleged diabetes medicine

Journalist Ravish Kumar on Thursday said that a deepfake video featuring him was being circulated on social media where he is seen endorsing an alleged medication for diabetes.

Deepfakes are techniques to manipulate audio and video content with the help of artificial intelligence software to show people saying or doing things that they never said or did. The content is made to appear as realistic as possible and is often used with malicious intent.

On Thursday, the veteran Hindi journalist clarified that the video circulating on social media was misusing his face and voice to promote the alleged medication.

“For several days people have been asking me if I have done an advertisement for diabetes medicine,” Kumar said in a video he shared on Twitter. “Many people are also buying the medicine after seeing my face and hearing my voice in the video. Please do not fall for such a hoax, somebody is misusing my voice and face. I have not promoted any such product.”

Besides Kumar, deepfake videos of several other Indian television news anchors have been circulated promoting the alleged medication, reported Boomlive.

These anchors, including Arnab Goswami, Anjana Om Kashyap and Sudhir Chaudhary, are featured in the deepfake video making statements such as: “An Indian doctor has developed a medicine that normalises blood sugar in a single dose. The doctor believes in the medication so much that they have assured to pay Rs 100 million if it does not work. Click on the link below for more; this offer ends today.”

Deepfake has emerged as a new menace for the authorities around the world in recent days. Last month, the Centre had said that it will soon frame regulations to tackle the challenge of deepfakes.

“Deepfake has emerged as a new threat in the society,” Minister for Electronics and Information Technology and Communications Ashwini Vaishnaw had said. “We need to take immediate steps.”