Chandigarh: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab president Aman Arora on Wednesday accused the Punjab Congress of using a purported AI-generated deepfake video to target chief minister Bhagwant Mann and said a complaint had been submitted to Punjab Police seeking legal action.Arora said the complaint sought action against Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, the party’s social media team and others allegedly involved in creating and circulating the purported video.“The Punjab Congress has crossed all limits of political decency by resorting to fake and manipulated content to defame an elected chief minister. Instead of raising genuine public issues, Congress leaders have chosen the path of misinformation, deception and character assassination,” Arora said in a statement.He claimed the original video showed Mann interacting with a woman during a public outreach programme and discussing welfare initiatives of the Punjab govt, but alleged that Congress functionaries manipulated its audio, visuals and context using artificial intelligence tools to create a false narrative.“This was not satire, humour or political criticism. It was a deliberate and malicious attempt to deceive the people of Punjab through deepfake technology. The sole objective was to tarnish the image of the CM and create confusion among the public,” Arora said.The AAP leader alleged that the Congress had resorted to propaganda because it had no answer to the Mann govt’s performance and welfare initiatives.“Raja Warring must explain whether he endorses the use of deepfake technology to mislead the people of Punjab. He should publicly apologise for this unethical campaign and take responsibility for the actions of his party’s social media machinery,” he said.Arora demanded a thorough investigation and urged the police and cyber crime authorities to identify all those involved in creating and disseminating the purported manipulated content and take appropriate legal action.
