Kancha Gachibowli land row: Telangana govt serious on fake images, videos, to order massive probe

Hyderabad: The State government expressed serious concern over the creation of controversy through fabricated videos and photos on social media networks that the government has seized the lands of Hyderabad Central University.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, along with deputy CM Bhatti Mallu Vikramarka and other ministers, held a review at the Secretariat on the cases pending in the court regarding Kancha Gachibowli lands.

The officials briefed the chief minister about the projects developed on the lands in Survey No. 25 in Kancha Gachibowli in the last 25 years.

No dispute

Along with the world-famous ISB, Gachibowli Stadium, IIIT, private buildings, residential apartments and Hyderabad University buildings were constructed in survey number 25.

The officials brought to the notice of the chief minister that no disputes or concerns came to light during the construction of the above institutions. There were no such controversies on wildlife conservation and environmental issues at that time of construction. In that case, the high-level meeting discussed the reasons behind the controversy on the development of 400 acres of government land in the same survey.

Fake videos

The officials informed the chief minister that the controversy led to a national debate. People created fake videos and photos using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and circulated them widely on social media. The authorities told the CM that the fabricated videos and photos went viral on social media even before the government disclosed the facts on the lands, and it has become a big challenge for them.

Top police officials explained to CM Revanth Reddy that some vested interests made fake videos and AI photos of crying peacocks and injured deer running away like they were being hit by bulldozers. Even some famous persons in various fields presumed the fake videos and photos circulating on social media were true, and it added fuel to the lies.

Fake news spread by celebrities

The meeting also discussed how Union Minister Kishan Reddy, former Minister Jagadish Reddy, social media influencer Dhruv Rathee, and film celebrities such as John Abraham, Dia Mirza and Raveena Tandon allegedly sent the wrong message to society after they uploaded the posts with the fake videos and photos on social media believing them are true. Noted journalist Sumit Jha posted the fake video on the land and deleted the post within a short time and apologised. Some other prominent persons spread the same fake video without realising the fact.

The high-level meeting felt that the controversy created by using AI on Kancha Gachibowli lands posed a big challenge to the democratic system. The CM and officials discussed the threat of a big risk in the future if the fake content is created with AI on sensitive issues, mainly the disputes on Indo-Pak and Indo-China borders.

Fake news risk greater than Covid-19

The meeting expressed serious concern that fake videos and photos created by Artificial Intelligence will be a greater risk than the coronavirus pandemic for society.

The chief minister instructed the officials to appeal to the court on behalf of the State government to order an inquiry into the creation of AI fake content, which misled the entire society.

CM Revanth Reddy also ordered the police officials to strengthen the cybercrime department to prevent such incidents from recurring and suggested that the necessary advanced forensic hardware and software tools be provided to detect AI fake content immediately.