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OpenAI, the maker of runaway hit ChatGPT that upended the technology world, currently provides personalised bots through its paid ChatGPT Plus service. However, the platform strictly prohibits its users from engaging in “political campaigning or lobbying, including the creation of campaign materials personalised for or directed at specific demographics.”

But, Decode identified at least 8 chatbots in the GPT Store focused on elections in India that flouted OpenAI's policy. Read on!

Question of the hour: Deepfake or not?

This week was filled with viral videos of celebrities and politicians being circulated on the internet. Some claimed that these videos were a deepfake, while others assumed them to be real.

CASE 1: Amit Malviya, Bharatiya Janata Party's IT cell head claimed a video of party candidate Dinesh Lal Yadav alias Nirahua making remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath being childless, was a deepfake.

FACT: It’s a real video, not a deepfake.

CASE 2: Congress functionaries like Nishant Agrawal, Mini Nagrare and Rajiv Ghute shared a video of actor Aamir Khan purportedly criticising a 2013 statement made by then prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi of depositing Rs 15 lakh in every Indian's bank account.

FACT: The viral video uses an artificial intelligence (AI) voice clone of Aamir Khan. The original video is from 2014 and has been overlaid with a fake audio.

CASE 3: Congress spokesperson Sujata Paul shared a video of actor Ranveer Singh criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi over rising unemployment and soaring inflation.

FACT: It’s a deepfake video made using an AI voice clone of the Bollywood actor.

TL;DR: Visuals are being claimed as deepfakes, morphed/altered, doctored as per convenience. Social media users are believing them depending on their bias.

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Pegasus Investigation Committee’s Website Has Removed Depositions And Replaced With Spam

🔖 This happened: The website of the Supreme Court-ordered Pegasus investigation committee headed by former Supreme Court Judge Justice RV Raveendran has deleted depositions made to it and has started posting spam content. This remains the case, despite deponents having approached Justice Raveendran and other members of the committee seeking an explanation, reports Abir Dasgupta.

Context: The Pegasus investigation has revealed that thousands of individuals all over the world may have had their mobile phones targeted for hacking using the Pegasus software suite, which is developed by Israel’s NSO Group.

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ElectionPundit, FraudKejri: Indian Chatbots Flout OpenAI's Poll Policies

🔖 This went viral: A few weeks ago the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) shared a video ad on its social media accounts mocking the INDIA alliance, caricaturing the politicians for not being able to figure out ‘Dulha kaun hai?’ or ‘who is the groom?’

The ad that was made by a political consultancy firm—Varahe Analytics— went viral. With OpenAI’s GPT store, political consultancy firms may not even have to look far for ideas when it comes to making ad campaigns targeting opponents.

Rules violated: Decode’s Hera Rizwan identified at least 8 chatbots in the GPT Store focused on elections in India that flouted OpenAI's policy prohibiting the use of its tech for political campaigns.  

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Celebration Or Despair? The Confusion Over CAA In Bengal

🔖 Opinion: “We need the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). We need watertight citizenship. We have been homeless once, we don’t want to be homeless again,” said Madhusudan Mallick, one of the guests at Baruni Fair.

Difference of opinion: “First, how does one submit proof of past residence in Bangladesh? Who has it? And second, the application under the law requires declaring oneself an illegal immigrant. What happens if the application is rejected? There is no mention of any remedy or scope for appeal once an application has been rejected,” said Mridulal Mandal who hosted over 150 guests at Kaya village in West Bengal’s North 24-Parganas district.

Context: It is common among the Matua community members living in and around Thakurnagar, the headquarters of the Matua sect in India, to host pilgrims coming from faraway districts, and even states, on the occasion of Baruni Fair, which commenced on 6 April. The community is made entirely of migrants from Bangladesh.

Despite the sense of unity that such a practice of communal hosting reflects, a division became clear the moment the issue of the CAA, the Rules of which were notified on 11 March, was broached. Read Snigdhendu Bhattacharya’s story.

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BJP, Congress Manifesto Talk Of Bharat And India

🔖 BJP and Congress have recognised India’s growth story and proclaimed strong economic policies that focus on women, the youth, the farmers and address the poor. However, with polls having kicked off on 19 April, the two national parties are clearly pitted against each other on ideological grounds and are fighting for their idea of a Bharat and India.

Read Ritika Jain’s story where she draws a comparison between the manifestos of the two parties.

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🚫 Fake News You Almost Fell For

🔍 A video showing Delhi's education minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) member Atishi at the inauguration of a school went viral with the false claim that she apologised for raising the slogan of 'Jai Shri Ram' at the event. 🔗 Shefali Srivastava ↗️ debunked the claim.

🔍 A video of a drone footage of building rooftops shot by Ranchi Police was shared on social media with a false and communal claim that the footage showed Muslim houses kept stones on rooftops to attack Ram Navami processions in Ranchi on the day of the festival. Read 🔗 Anmol Alphonso & Rohit Kumar’s ↗️ fact-check.

🔍 An edited video of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with several jump-cuts was circulating on social media with a false claim that it shows him speaking about south Indian cuisines like dosas and vadas during an election campaign. 🔗 Srijit Das’ ↗️ found out the truth.

🅱️ Recommends

📖 This week's recommendation is: AI Isn’t Our Election Safety Problem, Disinformation Is by Paul Barrett & Justin Hendrix

Read More

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