Election News
Indian Police Investigate Deepfake Videos as Election Heats Up
As campaigning heated up in India’s election, deepfake videos involving two top advisers of Prime Minister Narendra Modi have sparked police investigations and the arrest of some staffers from his opponent Congress party.
In what has been dubbed India’s first AI election, Modi said last week that artificial voices were being used to allegedly show leaders making “statements that we have never even thought of,” calling it a conspiracy “to create tension in society.”
Indian police, who are already investigating the spread of fake videos featuring Bollywood actors criticizing Modi, are now looking into a doctored online clip in which federal home minister Amit Shah says the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party will end certain social guarantees for minorities, a sensitive issue for millions of voters.
Shah responded to X by uploading both his “original” and the altered “fake” speech and claiming — without offering any evidence — that the main opposition Congress was behind the video it prepared to deceive the people. The minister stated: “Directions have been issued to the police to address this issue.”
Nine arrested in India
According to police comments, Indian police arrested at least nine persons last week, including six members of Congress’ social media teams, in the states of Assam, Gujarat, Telangana, and New Delhi for disseminating the phony film.
Five Congress members were released on bail, but the most high-profile arrest by New Delhi police’s cybercrime squad occurred on Friday, when they nabbed Arun Reddy, a Congress national social media coordinator, for uploading the video. In New Delhi, Shah’s government has direct control over the police. Reddy has been taken into custody for three days.
Congress staffers have protested the detention, with many posting on X with the hashtag #ReleaseArunReddy. Manickam Tagore, a Congress member, claimed the detention was an example of “authoritarian abuse of power by the regime.”
Supriya Shrinate, Congress’ head of social media, did not respond to texts or an email requesting comment. The Indian election, which will take place between April 19 and June 1, will be the world’s largest democratic event.
With almost a billion voters and over 800 million internet users, combating the spread of misinformation is a high-stakes task. It entails round-the-clock monitoring by police and election officials, who frequently issue takedown orders to Facebook and X when investigations begin.
Ai Generated Deepfake Videos
More than 500 workers in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, monitor internet content, flagging contentious messages and liaising with social media firms to remove them as needed, police chief Prashant Kumar told Reuters on Saturday.
Another deepfake video that went viral last week depicted Yogi Adityanath, the state’s chief minister, condemning Modi for not doing enough to help the relatives of those killed in a 2019 militant attack.
Though fact-checkers believed the video was made using different bits of an original tape, state police described it as a “AI generated, deepfake”.
On May 2, state police detained Shyam Gupta, who had published the phony video post on X the day before, with over 3,000 views and 11 likes.
The police have charged Gupta with forgery and inciting enmity under Indian law, which carries a maximum seven-year prison sentence if convicted. Reuters was unable to approach him since he is now serving a 14-day detention sentence.
“This person is not a technology expert. “If he had been tech savvy, we would not have been able to arrest him so quickly,” stated Police Officer Kumar.
Source: Reuters
Election News
Trudeau Determined to Avoid Early Election After NDP Coalition Ended
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau emphasised he does not want an early election and said he will want to work with his former partner just hours after the New Democratic Party (NDP) withdrew from an agreement it had with the current Liberal Party Government.
“I look forward to conversations with Mr. (Jagmeet) Singh about how we’re going to continue to demonstrate that confident countries invest in their citizens, invest in their future, because that’s what we’re doing,” Trudeau said, addressing the media in the town of Rocky Harbour, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. That declaration came shortly after Jagmeet Singh, who has been in power since March 2022, declared his party was leaving the Supply and Confidence Agreement.
As in previous years, Trudeau continued, “I’ll let others focus on politics, but I will point out that I really hope the NDP stays focused on how we can deliver for Canadians, rather than focusing on politics.”
With Trudeau’s party in the minority in the Commons, the opposition Conservative Party is preparing to call for an early election through the possibility of a no-confidence resolution when the House reconvenes on September 18.
The timing of the motion is still unknown, according to reports from Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the Conservative Party, who stated, “At this time, we don’t have a calendar to indicate when we can put forward a motion.”
“After Sellout Singh did this stunt today, he is going to have to vote on whether he keeps Justin Trudeau’s costly Government in power,” he stated, putting further pressure on the NDP.
“I certainly hope that the NDP will stay true to its fundamental values, which is making sure that Canadians get the support they need and keeping away from the austerity, the cuts, and the damage that will be done by Conservatives if they get the chance,” stated Trudeau, expressing optimism that early elections can be avoided.
October 2025 will see Canadian federal elections, but Trudeau’s Liberals only have 154 members of the 338-member House. It had made it through until Wednesday morning thanks to the backing of the 25-member NDP caucus.
Posting a video message on Wednesday, Singh claimed to have “ripped up” the accord and stated that “Canadians are fighting a battle.” A struggle for the middle class’s future. Justin Trudeau has often demonstrated his willingness to give up to corporate greed. People feel let down by the Liberals. From Canadians, they don’t deserve another opportunity.
The news coincided with the Trudeau Government’s severe unpopularity, which has negatively impacted the NDP. The non-profit public polling organisation Angus Reid Institute, or ARI, released a survey indicating that the Conservatives have 43% of the vote, a significant 22% lead over the ruling party.
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Justin Trudeau Hellbent on Destroying Canada
Election News
Kamala Harris Challenges Donald Trump to Transparent Debate with Live Microphones
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for the US presidential election in November, called on her Republican opponent Donald Trump to debate her with their microphones turned on during the event.
Kamala Harris and the former president have agreed to debate on September 10th, which will be hosted by ABC News.
“Donald Trump is giving in to his aides, who refuse to allow him to debate with a live microphone. “If his own team doesn’t believe in him, the American people certainly won’t,” Kamala Harris wrote on X.
“We’re running for President of the United States. Let’s have a transparent debate, with microphones on the whole time.”
Trump has stated that he prefers to keep his microphone on and did not like it muted at the last debate against then-candidate Joe Biden.
So-called “hot mics” can help or hinder political campaigns by recording off-hand comments that were not intended for the public. Muted microphones also restrict debaters from interrupting their opponents.
A spokeswoman from ABC did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The discussion would be the first between Harris and Trump since Biden stepped out of the presidential race following a dismal performance at a CNN debate in June that prompted concerns about his mental acuity.
Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, and JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential candidate, have agreed to a CBS News debate on October 1.
ORIGINAL STORY: Why Kamala Harris Campaign is fighting for Unmuted Debate Mics
Some experts believe the Trump campaign’s eagerness to maintain the muting rule for the Kamala Harris debate on September 10 is because to the great reception he received in June for a more controlled performance than many had anticipated versus Mr Biden. In practice, it rendered interruptions impossible.
The former president, on the other hand, appears unconcerned with the regulation, and has even contradicted his own team’s statements advocating for its continuation. “[It] does not matter to me. I’d prefer to have [the microphones] turned on,” he stated on Monday.
“But we agreed that it would be the same as the last time. “In that case, it was muted,” he explained.
Trump announced on social media Tuesday afternoon that he had “reached an agreement” with ABC for the September 10 debate. He did not mention mics in the post, but did say that the “rules will be the same as the last CNN debate,” which included muted mics.
In the article, he also accused the network of being “unfair,” but added that his team had been guaranteed that the debate would be “fair and equitable.”
With only two weeks until the debate, the Kamala Harris team wants to change the agreed-upon regulations so that both candidates’ microphones are unmuted during the event. What do they believe they will benefit from this change?
More broadly, they feel it has the potential to show viewers an unfiltered, even irritable, Trump, who will be audible throughout Kamala Harris’s speech.
“Our understanding is that Trump’s handlers prefer the muted microphone because they don’t think their candidate can act presidential for 90 minutes on his own,” said Kamala Harris’s spokeswoman.
Election News
Why Kamala Harris Campaign is fighting for Unmuted Debate Mics
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are scheduled to face battle in their first presidential debate next month, but the campaigns are still fighting about logistics, specifically microphones.
Trump’s campaign is advocating for microphones to be muted when it is the other person’s turn to speak. Joe Biden originally requested this regulation as the Democratic candidate.
Trump’s team eventually consented to the request, which was clearly an attempt by Biden’s campaign to limit disruptions. (The pair’s turbulent first 2020 debate was marked by numerous interruptions, with Mr. Biden finally shouting at his rival: “Will you shut up, man?”)
Kamala Harris Campaign Advocates for Unmuted Mics: Potential Advantages
Some experts believe the Trump campaign’s eagerness to maintain the muting rule for the Kamala Harris debate on September 10 is because to the great reception he received in June for a more controlled performance than many had anticipated versus Mr Biden. In practice, it rendered interruptions impossible.
The former president, on the other hand, appears unconcerned with the regulation, and has even contradicted his own team’s statements advocating for its continuation. “[It] does not matter to me. I’d prefer to have [the microphones] turned on,” he stated on Monday.
“But we agreed that it would be the same as the last time. “In that case, it was muted,” he explained.
Trump announced on social media Tuesday afternoon that he had “reached an agreement” with ABC for the September 10 debate. He did not mention mics in the post, but did say that the “rules will be the same as the last CNN debate,” which included muted mics.
In the article, he also accused the network of being “unfair,” but added that his team had been guaranteed that the debate would be “fair and equitable.”
With only two weeks until the debate, the Harris team wants to change the agreed-upon regulations so that both candidates’ microphones are unmuted during the event. What do they believe they will benefit from this change?
More broadly, they feel it has the potential to show viewers an unfiltered, even irritable, Trump, who will be audible throughout Kamala Harris’s speech.
“Our understanding is that Trump’s handlers prefer the muted microphone because they don’t think their candidate can act presidential for 90 minutes on his own,” said Kamala Harris’s spokeswoman.
Source: BBC
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