Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday highlighted threats of deep fakes in new-age media and said it was important to understand how artificial intelligence works since it could be used to purposefully spread false information or have malicious intent behind its use.

Addressing a Diwali Milan gathering at the BJP Headquarters here, the Prime Minister spoke to journalists about the dangers of deep fakes in digital media.

He urged the media persons to educate people about the negative effects of using artificial intelligence to spread harmful content such as misrepresentation of individuals in deep fakes.

“I recently saw a video in which I was seen singing a Garba song. There are many other such videos online,” said PM Modi, adding that “the looming threat of Deepfake has become a great concern and can create a lot of problems for all of us.”

Deepfakes are used to purposefully spread false information or they may have a malicious intent behind their use. They can be designed to harass, intimidate, demean and undermine people, the PM said. Deepfakes can also create misinformation and confusion about important issues, he said.

The Centre has said that creation and circulation of Deepfakes will carry strong penalty — Rs 1 lakh in fine and three years in jail. Misrepresentation of individuals in Deepfakes has led to the generation of blackmail materials to falsely incriminate people.

As these videos and audio recordings can be difficult to verify, the negative impact on reputation can be difficult to recover from, even when verified as a Deepfake.

The Prime Minister talked about the ‘Vocal for local’ campaign, and said it has found people’s support; the idea of a fully developed India was not just mere words but had touched ground reality.

The PM said that local businesses had blossomed under the vocal for local campaigns and stated that “we all must prioritise our local products.”

“We now have a strong position on a global level, the world now acknowledges our achievements,” added the prime minister.

PM Modi along with the BJP leadership arrived for the ‘Diwali Milan’ programme at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) central office in the Capital. Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president JP Nadda also joined the event.

Additionally, journalists from the Indian media were invited by the BJP party chief to attend the programme.