On social media, a deepfake video of star
rashmika mandanna has been making the rounds. In response,
rashmika stated on
monday that since "technology is being misused," the community as a whole needs to address this. Although the performer expressed gratitude to her loved ones and well-wishers, she acknowledged that "the deepfake video of her being spread online was extremely scary."
She wrote on X (formerly Twitter), "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." The viral video shows a British-Indian woman dressed in black inside an elevator with her face being edited using artificial intelligence (AI) to resemble Rashmika.
The actor continued, "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."
rashmika tagged the official X accounts of Cyberabad
police and
maharashtra Cyber, nodal agency for cyber security and cybercrime investigation for
maharashtra, in her tweet.
"We stand with you in this!!! Let's raise awareness and work together to combat such misuse of technology. You're not alone in this and we support you," wrote a person on X. Another said, "This video is still okay, but there are worse. It is better to take action now than later." A person also wrote, "It's disheartening to see the harm caused by deepfake videos. Let's work together to raise awareness about the consequences of
technology misuse and protect one another online."