Rashmika Mandanna morphed image case: Meta's Oversight Board seeks public view on AI-generated images of Indian, US celebrities

Social media giant Meta's Oversight Board has invited public comments to decide on actions to be taken on AI-generated obscene images in two cases related to public figures in India and the US.

One of the two cases involves an AI-generated image of a nude woman posted on Instagram, the board, which decides on content moderation, said.

"The image has been created using artificial intelligence (AI) to resemble a public figure from India. The account that posted this content only shares AI-generated images of Indian women. The majority of users who reacted have accounts in India, where deepfakes are increasingly a problem," it said.

Meta has sought public opinion on the issue, even though the Ministry of Electronics and IT has already asked social media firms to remove AI-generated fake images and videos and issued an advisory, asking these platforms to strictly adhere to them.

Fake or morphed images and videos of several Indian actresses, including Rashmika Mandanna and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, have gone viral on social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, and X.

The board said in the case related to India, a user reported the content to Meta for pornography but the report was automatically closed because it was not reviewed within 48 hours.

"The user then appealed to the Board. As a result of the Board selecting this case, Meta determined that its decision to leave the content up was in error and removed the post for violating the bullying and harassment community standard," the board said.

As per IT rules of 2021, an online platform is required to remove full or partial nudity within 24 hours of receiving a complaint.

The board has also invited public views on a case in the US where an AI-generated obscene image of an American celebrity was posted in a Facebook group.

The majority of users who reacted to the post have accounts in the US, the board said.

In this case, the image was already considered a violation of Facebook's Community Standards and was removed.

The public comment window for this case is open for 14 days till April 30, the board said.

The Oversight Board did not mention the name or details of the celebrities.

The post, however, shared a link of a news article which mentioned the names of Indian and US celebrities affected by such content.