‘Paying the price for misinformation’

Big turn-out: People attending a road show in Amritsar, ahead of the fourth phase of voting in India’s ongoing general election. — AFP

Bollywood stars seldom weigh in on politics, so videos showing two celebrities criticising Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi – and endorsing his main opposition, the Congress party – were bound to go viral.

But the clips of A-list actors Aamir Khan and Ranveer Singh were fake, AI-generated videos that were yet another example of the false or misleading claims swirling online with the goal of influencing India’s election. Both actors filed complaints with police but such actions do little to halt the flow of such misinformation.