New Delhi: On April 6, a letter purportedly written by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat to Prime Minister Narendra Modi went viral because it raised severe considerations about Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his spouse Riniki Bhuyan Sarma.
Within the purported letter, Mr. Bhagwat is seen asking Prime Minister Modi whether or not House Minister Amit Shah had tried to avoid wasting Sarma. RSS officers stated the letter, which was broadly shared on social media by Sarma’s opponents, was faux.
This isn’t the primary time RSS has been focused by faux or AI-generated content material.
However the scenario has escalated additional forward of meeting elections in states together with Assam, the place two AI-generated letters purportedly written by Mr Bhagwat to Mr Modi have gone viral, posing an issue for the RSS and the Bharatiya Janata Celebration (BJP), particularly in Assam, the place they hope to make a comeback.
Equally, a deepfake video quoting a letter from Mr. Bhagwat to Mr. Modi elevating considerations over the passport controversy associated to Mr. Sarma’s spouse additionally went viral. This difficulty was first raised in Congress.
Congress chief Pawan Khera had accused Sarma’s spouse of getting a number of passports from totally different nations. Each Sarma and the Bharatiya Janata Celebration denied the allegations, calling them “fabricated and fabricated.”
A senior RSS official stated the Assam unit has filed a police grievance with the Guwahati Cyber Cell over faux AI-generated posts falsely impersonating the RSS.
The official added that the FIR has been registered and it’s anticipated to behave as a deterrent sooner or later.
“We want to draw your heat consideration to the faux and deceptive posts, allegedly generated utilizing synthetic intelligence, at present circulating within the title of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS),” the grievance filed by the RSS Uttar Assam unit in March stated. “The content material being disseminated is fake, malicious and aimed toward deceptive the general public and tarnishing the picture of the group,” it added.
In March, RSS officers filed a separate police grievance in Delhi over one other letter in Rohini that the RSS claimed was written to Mr. Modi.
“The present scenario within the Bharatiya Janata Celebration in Assam is just not solely very worrying but in addition poses a severe risk to its ideological existence. It seems that the Bharatiya Janata Celebration, which was constructed on nationalism, sacrifice and organizational power, has now fallen into the fingers of opportunists and corrupt parts of the Congress celebration,” the faux letter reported by an RSS official stated.
An RSS official, who requested anonymity, stated he confronted related faux letters and faux surveys allegedly performed within the title of RSS throughout elections in Bihar and Haryana.
“The RSS by no means conducts political polls and a faux letter was circulated earlier than the elections speaking in regards to the polls performed by the RSS. Equally, many faux letters had been circulated earlier than the elections in Bihar and Haryana, making a nuisance and a risk. The authorities must dismantle this relationship instantly,” stated an RSS official.
In 2019, Mohan Bhagwat and 6 different senior RSS leaders had their X-accounts verified to curb misinformation being unfold of their or their group’s title on social media.
Deepfakes and AI characters
RSS is just not the one group affected by deepfake movies and AI-generated letters.
Many politicians, together with Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor, have reported being victims of such content material lately.
On Thursday, Tharoor expressed his considerations to X in regards to the difficulty. “There are an alarming variety of deepfake movies of me circulating, that are actual footage from outdated interviews with convincing AI-generated audio narration to make me say issues I’ve by no means stated,” Tharoor stated.
The Data Know-how (Intermediate Pointers and Digital Media Ethics Code) Modification Guidelines, 2026, notified on February 10 and efficient from February 20, launched a proper definition of “synthetically generated info” (SGI) and imposed enhanced due diligence obligations on intermediaries reminiscent of X, YouTube, and Meta.
The rules embrace obligatory labeling of AI-generated or artificial content material and considerably quicker timelines for eradicating unlawful materials. Below the brand new framework, platforms should take away unlawful or government-reported content material inside three hours of receiving a notification, a major discount from the earlier 36-hour window.
(Edited by Katyal Sugita)
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