India’s democratic institutions face a new test as synthetic media spreads through public life. The country had about 970 million internet subscribers at the end of 2024, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Affordable data and smartphones have made digital communication central to everyday politics. Earlier, misinformation often relied on edited photographs, misleading captions or video clips stripped of context. Today, accessible artificial intelligence tools can create convincing voice clones, fabricated videos and false statements in Indian languages.

The danger is not simply that falsehoods are cheap to produce. They can often travel through trusted relationships and weaken confidence in what citizens see and hear. The 2024 general election offered a warning. Political campaigns experimented with AI generated messages, while misleading clips and recycled footage circulated online. The Election Commission of India responded by directing parties to avoid deepfakes and remove misleading content within three hours of being notified. It also launched a public Myth versus Reality register to correct election related claims.

These steps recognised the threat, but they also exposed a difficult truth: official corrections often struggle to match the speed and emotional force of viral deception. A false clip can influence voters before a correction reaches them. The problem is especially difficult in closed messaging groups. WhatsApp and similar services allow families, neighbourhoods and community networks to exchange information privately. Cloned audio presents a particular risk. A familiar voice speaking a local language can sound authentic even when the words are invented. When the sender is a relative or trusted neighbour, people may forward a message without checking its source.

In a tense election or communal dispute, a fabricated warning can inflame fear before authorities establish the facts. India’s legal response draws on laws not designed specifically for every form of synthetic media. Section 66D of the Information Technology Act addresses cheating by personation using computer resources. Other provisions can apply to identity theft, privacy violations, defamation, forgery........

© The Statesman