A video of actor Rashmika Mandanna entering an elevator has gone viral on social media. However, factcheck journalist Abhishek Kumar reported on Sunday that the video, which initially seems like a candid moment, is actually a deepfake video.

The video, which was originally posted by a British Indian, Zara Patel, on Instagram on October 9, has garnered over 18 million views on Kumar’s thread on X (formerly Twitter). In the thread, he shows both the deepfake video and the original video, calling for a legal and regulatory framework to deal with deepfake in the country.

From a deepfake POV, the viral video is perfect enough for ordinary social media users to fall for it. But if you watch the video carefully, you can see at (0:01) that when Rashmika (deepfake) was entering the lift, suddenly her face changes from the other girl to Rashmika. (3/3)

— Abhishek (@AbhishekSay) November 5, 2023

“From a deepfake POV, the viral video is perfect enough for ordinary social media users to fall for it. But if you watch the video carefully, you can see at (0:01) that when Rashmika (deepfake) was entering the lift, suddenly her face changes from the other girl to Rashmika,” he said.

In response to Kumar’s post, Union Minister of State for Electronics & Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar, shared that under the IT rules, platforms are legally obligated to remove any kind of misinformation within 36 hours of being reported.

He also said that if platforms fail to comply, they can also be taken to court by the aggrieved person under provisions of IPC.

PM @narendramodi ji's Govt is committed to ensuring Safety and Trust of all DigitalNagriks using Internet

Under the IT rules notified in April, 2023 - it is a legal obligation for platforms to➡️ensure no misinformation is posted by any user AND➡️ensure that when reported by… https://t.co/IlLlKEOjtd— Rajeev Chandrasekhar