Deepfake Crimes: Emerging Threats And Legal Challenges In The Digital Era
- IJLLR Journal
- Dec 20, 2025
- 2 min read
Jaya Sharma, Assistant Professor, School of Law, MVN University
ABSTRACT
Deepfakes, or intentionally altered audio-visual information that can accurately mimic actual people, are an unsettling result of artificial intelligence's (AI) quick development. Deepfake technology, which was first created for artistic and recreational purposes, has matured into a potent tool for criminal abuse that poses serious risks to public confidence, national security, privacy, and reputation. The technological underpinnings of deepfakes and their widespread dissemination on social media, where altered photos and videos are frequently indistinguishable from real ones, are examined in this paper. It demonstrates how deepfakes are being used more and more as weapons for identity theft, financial fraud, political disinformation, cyberbullying, and non-consensual explicit content, causing victims to suffer long-term social and psychological harm. The difficulty of tracking down criminals and guaranteeing accountability is made more difficult by their ease of creation and worldwide distribution. Legally speaking, the study draws attention to the shortcomings of current Indian legislation, including the Information Technology Act of 2000 and sections of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to defamation, forgery, and obscenity, in dealing with offenses linked to deepfakes. Comparative observations from countries such as the US, the EU, and South Korea show more aggressive attempts to make deepfake abuse illegal and protect digital identity rights. The study emphasizes the critical need for an all-encompassing policy framework that incorporates public awareness, technology safety, and legislative reform. material, causing victims to suffer long-lasting psychological and societal trauma. It promotes a particular legal framework that acknowledges the malicious production and distribution of deepfakes as separate crimes, backed by strict data security protocols and forensic AI technologies to confirm authenticity. In order to maintain digital trust and safeguard people in an increasingly synthetic media environment, the study suggests that fighting deepfake crimes necessitates a multidisciplinary strategy incorporating ethics, technology, law, and governance.
Keywords: AI Regulation, Deepfake, Artificial Intelligence, Cybercrime, Legal Framework, Privacy, Digital Evidence, Misinformation
