‘False propaganda in my name’: Asaduddin Owaisi files complaint over his deepfake AI video promoting investment scam

AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has filed a complaint with the Hyderabad police in connection with a deepfake video of him promoting investment scams.

The deepfake videos of Owaisi promoting the scam has been circulating online.

The AI-generated fake video fraudulently used Owaisi’s image and name. The fake video promised returns of ₹53,000 daily.

Police said that the video has been made to mislead the public into believing that he is promoting an investment scam.

“The video was created and uploaded along with malicious content to lure innocent people and to make false propaganda in my name,” Owaisi said in his complaint.

The video leads people to a website that promotes investment scam. The Hyderabad MP complained that it was putting innocent individuals at risk of losing money.

As per police, the deepfake video also comes with AI-generated clips of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani and Infosys founder Narayana Murthy.

Owaisi requested the police to issue directives to social media platforms to take down the fake video, register a case and investigate and trace the origin of the video.

Police register case

Hyderabad police on June 5 registered a case based on the complaint filed by Owaisi.

As per a report by The Times of India, the case has been registered under sections 66C (identity theft), 66D (cheating by personation), and 66E (violation of privacy) of the IT Act, 319(2) (cheating by personation), 336(3) (forgery for purpose of cheating), 336(4) (forgery for purpose of harming reputation), and 356 (defamation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

An investigation is on including removal of the video from the social media platform, an official said, according to PTI.

Further investigations are on, the official said.

Deepfake AI videos target Pope too

AI-generated videos and audios of Pope Leo XIV are populating rapidly online, racking up views as platforms struggle to police them.

An AFP investigation identified dozens of YouTube and TikTok pages that have been churning out AI-generated messages delivered in the pope’s voice or otherwise attributed to him since he took charge of the Catholic Church last month.