Deepfakes a nuisance, strict action will be taken: CEC Rajiv Kumar

NEW DELHI: Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Tuesday warned of strict action against those involved in spreading fake narratives about polls using Artificial Intelligence and deepfakes . Kumar said the commission tackled the issue successfully during Lok Sabha polls through continuous monitoring from control rooms.

"Deepfake is a serious issue. It is disturbing all elections world over. We were able to control such incidents...nuisance like using someone's photo with someone or someone's voice with someone else...all of these were possible but we were able to control it, essentially through the control rooms which have been set up and social media teams which have been set up in all the districts," he said in response to a question.

"In police headquarters, there is a continuous monitoring to check anything which is fake and take corrective action immediately. This led to taking down of posts in some cases and also criminal action in some where it warranted. There are still people who are running fake narratives someway or the other, we are going slow...it hasn't crossed the line but the day it crosses red line they will also be tackled," Kumar added.

The Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday announced the schedule of the Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly polls , besides bypolls to 47 Assembly seats and the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat.