Indian Voters Are Being Bombarded With Millions of Deepfakes. Political Candidates Approve

On a stifling April afternoon in Ajmer, in the Indian state of Rajasthan, local politician Shakti Singh Rathore sat down in front of a greenscreen to shoot a short video. It was his first time being cloned. Wearing a crisp white shirt and a ceremonial saffron scarf bearing a lotus flower--the logo of the BJP, the country's ruling party--Rathore pressed his palms together and greeted his audience in Hindi. Before he could continue, the director of the shoot walked into the frame. Divyendra Singh Jadoun, a 31-year-old with a bald head and a thick black beard, told Rathore he was moving around too much on camera.