{"id":308932,"date":"2026-01-01T15:40:36","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T10:10:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/?p=308932"},"modified":"2026-05-07T10:48:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T05:18:13","slug":"year-in-review-deepfakes-and-ai-supercharged-disinformation-propaganda-in-2025-like-never-before","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/year-in-review-deepfakes-and-ai-supercharged-disinformation-propaganda-in-2025-like-never-before\/","title":{"rendered":"Year in review: Deepfakes and AI supercharged disinformation & propaganda in 2025 like never before"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s AI\u2019s world, and we\u2019re just living in it.<\/p>\n

The bugle had been sounded long back. Its arrival announced all over. However, it was only in 2025 that fact-checking outlets, at least in India, finally confronted the newest ‘school’ of misinformation — AI generated content and deepfakes — head on.<\/p>\n

As generative AI (Gen AI) tools, specifically large language models (LLM) designed to create human-like text, code, and images\/audio\/video become more accessible to the masses, AI-generated content ceases to be ‘niche’. In an era of information explosion, AI stands out as one of the most significant tools for spreading disinformation. For fact-checkers, it poses a new challenge.<\/p>\n

In 2025, Alt News fact-checked 39 AI-generated videos or images. Out of those, 10 instances included political parties, politicians or the media actively amplifying such content as real. In spite of all the hullabaloo, in 2024 there were only seven AI-generated images or videos that assumed such importance in the Indian context as to warrant a fact check by Alt News. So, this year, it was a mind-boggling 457% jump.<\/p>\n

In the hands of influencers prioritizing visibility and engagement over authenticity, <\/span>Generative AI is a magic wand. Want a picture with Shah Rukh Khan but never had the luck to meet him? ChatGPT can make it happen. Want an image with a childhood hero who has passed away? Nano Banana Pro will do it for you. Have a paper due tomorrow that you haven\u2019t even started? Don\u2019t worry, Perplexity has you covered.<\/p>\n

But there is a flipside to it, and it is quite obvious.<\/p>\n

In his seminal work The Ascent of Man, Jacob Bronowski had famously reminded mankind of the moral imperative to use technology with wisdom and ethical foresight. The case of AI is no different. As it becomes more and more commonplace, chances of it being used without wisdom and moral foresight become higher and higher. The result was there for everyone to see in 2025.<\/p>\n

AI Videos Used to Drive Communal Narratives<\/h4>\n

One of the biggest examples of the misuse of AI last year was the way social media handles of BJP Assam indulged in communal propaganda targeting Muslims.<\/p>\n

For instance, on September 15, the X account of @BJP4Assam shared an AI-generated video showing a glimpse of \u201cAssam without BJP\u201d. The video, meant to target the Congress and its leader, Gaurav Gogoi, showed AI footage of Muslim \u201cinfiltrators\u201d entering the state and acquiring government land; men in skull caps, beards and lungis chopping beef by the roadside while Muslim men and burqa-clad women crowded the state\u2019s tea estates and public spaces, such as the Guwahati airport, theme park, zoo, stadium and the town.<\/p>\n

The 31-second ‘ad’ ended with the warning that without the BJP, Assam would have a 90% Muslim population. \u201cChoose your vote carefully,\u201d it said. The caption read, \u201cWe can\u2019t let this dream of Paaijaan to be true!!\u201d<\/p>\n

[vimeo https:\/\/vimeo.com\/1126841005]<\/p>\n

In the face of severe criticism from various quarters and FIRs being lodged, Assam BJP eventually deleted the video, but not before it garnered around 5 million views. Read Alt News’s detailed report on this published on October 13 here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

BJP Bengal and BJP Delhi followed suit in December. Making the ongoing SIR process in the state an excuse, they shared AI-generated videos that were brazenly communal in nature. One video featuring famous Bengali fictional characters Goopy and Bagha in present-day Kolkata showed all signboards written in Urdu and only Muslims walking on the streets. In another, Muslims were compared to pests in an AI generated clip which showed them being driven away by a mosquito repellant coil.<\/p>\n