Delhi Police warn against spread of fake content; STF constituted to deal with paper leak cases
New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Saturday cautioned civilians not to trust any content on social media without verifying its source and warned people against spreading deepfake and AI-generated videos.
Moreover, the Delhi Police mentioned the formation of the Crime Branch’s Special Task Force (STF) as part of the Centre’s commitment to deal with paper leak cases.
Addressing a press conference, DCP Central, Rohit Rajbir Singh, spoke about the large-scale use of social media, particularly Instagram, during the student protests at Jantar Mantar, staged under the banner of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).
“It is a big source for the youths to receive news and updates. During the massive use of social media, it has also been observed several times that many fake and misleading posts have also been shared. This severely affects the law-and-order system,” he said.
He added: “We all know that any kind of information on social media quickly gets viral. But it is not necessary that every post, video or photo put up on social media is genuine.”
DCP Singh cautioned citizens that before trusting any information or sharing it with others, “it is necessary to conduct a fact check of that information”.
“Delhi Police have been constantly monitoring social media. We are continuously gathering information about fake news, AI or deepfake videos, edited clips and misleading content on social media platforms so that people are able to differentiate between fake and genuine posts,” he stated.
The police official cited some social media posts which allegedly aimed to spread misinformation and panic among citizens.
Showing a Delhi Police’s fake news alert on a screen, he said: “Firstly, I want to mention those social media posts which claimed that a woman lost her life due to police action during the protest on July 20. Delhi Police have denied such claims and clarified that no life was lost during the protests.”
Referring to AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal’s post, he said: “Similarly, a politician posted a video on social media where he was claiming that the Central government is preparing for a crackdown on protesters at Jantar Mantar. This video had a high chance of spreading panic and fear among the public, thereby misleading them. Delhi Police had again clarified that no such action was going to take place and appealed to people not to trust unreliable information.”
DCP Singh highlighted that the police investigation has revealed that Pakistan-based social media accounts are spreading fake content.
“Delhi Police, along with other agencies, are constantly working to track down such accounts,” he stated while mentioning that more than 400 such accounts have been identified so far and have been blocked for sharing AI-generated content, deepfake videos, edited pictures and other misleading content related to the protests.
He further mentioned that similar Pak-based handles were found actively spreading fake news during Operation Sindoor last year.
“Posts on such social media accounts attempted to mislead people through edited statements of senior officials and edited visual content,” he added.
Moreover, the police official showed a fake video of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and added that the AI or deepfake content circulating on social media also includes videos showing Wangchuk.
“Another deep-fake video showed a fake statement attributed to Lt. General Rajeev Puri, DGMO, which claimed that the Army was being deployed in Delhi due to the ongoing student protests,” he said while showing one such video.
Singh mentioned that a “Special Task Force has been constituted at Delhi Police Crime Branch” as part of the Centre’s commitment to deal with exam irregularities.
“This team will be led by a DCP-rank official and under the supervision of Special CP Crime. Orders regarding this were issued yesterday itself,” he mentioned.
Delhi Police also thanked the peaceful protestors and volunteers at the Jantar Mantar for “helping the force to maintain law and order and community security”.
