Mumbai Police file FIR against unidentified person for sharing deepfake video of Aamir Khan

The Mumbai Police Wednesday registered an FIR against an unnamed person in connection with a deepfake video of actor Aamir Khan in which he was seen promoting a political party, official here said.

The FIR was filed at the Khar Police station by Khan’s office under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 419 (impersonation), 420 (cheating) and other sections of the Information Technology Act.

In the purported 27-second clip, which seems to have been edited using artificial intelligence (AI), Khan could be seen talking about staying away from rhetoric (jumla). A spokesperson for the actor had said on Tuesday that while Khan has in the past raised awareness through Election Commission campaigns through the years, he never promoted any political party.

The disputed deepfake video inserts Khan into a scene from a decade-old episode of his television show, ‘Satyamev Jayate’. ”We want to clarify that Mr Aamir Khan has never endorsed any political party throughout his 35-year career. He has dedicated his efforts to raising awareness through Election Commission public awareness campaigns for many past elections,” Khan’s spokesperson had said in a statement.

”We are alarmed by the recent viral video alleging that Aamir Khan is promoting a particular political party. He would like to clarify that this is a fake video and totally untrue. He has reported the matter to various authorities related to this issue, including filing an FIR with the Cyber Crime Cell of the Mumbai Police,” Khan’s spokesperson said in a statement.