The probe into the deepfake case of actor Rashmika Mandana has hit a dead end as social media platforms have shown their inability to give any information about individual(s) who have allegedly made the deepfake profiles.
As per the sources, the accused has removed and deleted his or her account from the social media platforms.
The officials said that the account could have been created with a fake identity and the Virtual Private Network (VPN) could have been used to upload the deep fake videos.
Union Minister for Communications, Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw on November 18 said that notices were issued to all social media platforms directing them to take necessary steps to identify and remove such content.
As per the officials, though the police detained a few suspects, none of them created the deep fake video in question rather they only shared the video.
The investigation into the matter is still underway, the officials said.Delhi Police has received a response suggesting their inability to provide details about the suspect's account which has been deleted from the Social media platforms.
Delhi Police IFSO (Internet Freedom and Safety for Online Users) unit earlier this week sent a letter to Meta (formerly Facebook) but the social media company responded by expressing its inability to provide details of the deleted account.
The sources further informed that the police are awaiting a reply from GoDaddy (a publicly traded internet domain registry) since a similar profile was made through GoDaddy also.
Highlighting the danger of deepfakes, Ashwini Vaishnaw on November 18 during an interaction with the media, said, "Deepfake is a big issue for all of us. We recently issued notices to all the big social media forms, asking them to take steps to identify deepfakes, to remove those content. The social media platforms have responded. They are taking action. We have told them to be more aggressive in this work." -- ANI