#FactCheck - An edited video of Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh criticizing PM getting viral
Executive Summary:
An alleged video is making the rounds on the internet featuring Ranveer Singh criticizing the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Government. But after examining the video closely it revealed that it has been tampered with to change the audio. In fact, the original videos posted by different media outlets actually show Ranveer Singh praising Varanasi, professing his love for Lord Shiva, and acknowledging Modiji’s role in enhancing the cultural charms and infrastructural development of the city. Differences in lip synchronization and the fact that the original video has no sign of criticizing PM Modi show that the video has been potentially manipulated in order to spread misinformation.
Claims:
The Viral Video of Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh criticizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Fact Check:
Upon receiving the Video we divided the video into keyframes and reverse-searched one of the images, we landed on another video of Ranveer Singh with lookalike appearance, posted by an Instagram account named, “The Indian Opinion News''. In the video Ranveer Singh talks about his experience of visiting Kashi Vishwanath Temple with Bollywood actress Kriti Sanon. When we watched the Full video we found no indication of criticizing PM Modi.
Taking a cue from this we did some keyword search to find the full video of the interview. We found many videos uploaded by media outlets but none of the videos indicates criticizing PM Modi as claimed in the viral video.
Ranveer Singh shared his thoughts about how he feels about Lord Shiva, his opinions on the city and the efforts undertaken by the Prime Minister Modi to keep history and heritage of Varanasi alive as well as the city's ongoing development projects. The discrepancy in the viral video clip is clearly seen when we look at it closely. The lips are not in synchronization with the words which we can hear. It is clearly seen in the original video that the lips are in perfect synchronization with the words of audio. Upon lack of evidence to the claim made and discrepancies in the video prove that the video was edited to misrepresent the original interview of Bollywood Actor Ranveer Singh. Hence, the claim made is misleading and false.
Conclusion:
The video that claims Ranveer Singh criticizing PM Narendra Modi is not genuine. Further investigation shows that it has been edited by changing the audio. The original footage actually shows Singh speaking positively about Varanasi and Modi's work. Differences in lip-syncing and upon lack of evidence highlight the danger of misinformation created by simple editing. Ultimately, the claim made is false and misleading.
- Claim: A viral featuring Ranveer Singh criticizing the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Government.
- Claimed on: X (formerly known as Twitter)
- Fact Check: Fake & Misleading
Related Blogs
Executive Summary
A video is being widely shared on social media, showing a man firing a pistol. The video is being shared with the claim that it is from the recent protests in Rawalakot, Pakistan-administered Kashmir. It is further claimed that the person seen in the video is associated with the Indian Action Committee, who is firing at security forces and later portraying themselves as victims after facing retaliation. The CyberPeace Research Wing analysed the viral video and found several visual inconsistencies. Further analysis using AI detection tools revealed that the viral video was generated using artificial intelligence (AI).
Claim:
A video shared on social media claims to show protesters associated with the Indian Action Committee directly firing at security forces. The post further claims that these individuals later present themselves as victims after facing a response from authorities.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1052887838090429/permalink/27742200445399139/?rdid=EMCXtwaN9n4OwqFc#
Fact Check:
During the research, the viral video was analysed and multiple visual inconsistencies were observed. At the beginning of the clip, two men riding a motorcycle can be seen behind the person firing the gun. However, instead of moving away from the firing spot, they appear to move towards the direction where the shooting is taking place. Additionally, the hand and head movements of one of the passengers on the motorcycle appear unnatural and distorted, which are common signs of AI-generated content.
In the next step of the research, the viral video was scanned using Hive Moderation. The results indicated that the video had a 63 per cent probability of being AI-generated.
The video was also analysed using Sightengine, which flagged it as 99 per cent AI-generated.
Conclusion:
The research found that the viral video does not show a real incident from the recent protests in Rawalakot, Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The video contains multiple visual inconsistencies, and analysis through AI detection tools also confirmed that it was generated using artificial intelligence. Therefore, the claim that the video shows an Indian Action Committee member firing at security forces during the protests is false.
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Introduction
With the advent of cloud computing, new information and asset delivery avenues have become possible, including Infrastructure-as-a-Service, Platform-as-a-Service, and Software-as-a-Service. With this change, the conventional paradigm of "computer as a product" is replaced with "computing as a service," which is provided to customers via the internet by big data warehouses or the cloud. Additionally, it has brought about an essential shift in how organisations function, allowing them to access computer tools and services online instead of needing to construct and manage their IT systems. As a result, organizations are now more agile, scalable, and efficient and can react swiftly to shifting consumer demands and market situations.
The Growth of Remote and Hybrid Workspaces
Hybrid and remote workplaces are becoming more popular post-pandemic era. Many businesses have used regional workplace solutions to manage a more scattered workforce. IT departments are put in a difficult position since they have to make sure that branch office staff and remote workers can access the information they require safely and dependably. VPNs and Direct Internet Access links are becoming more and more popular, thus IT professionals are coming up with innovative ways for connecting distant locations to the main office while protecting the confidentiality of information.
User Portability
The widespread use of mobile devices for work, along with the growing Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) culture, has significantly contributed to the rise of remote work and flexible work environments. Employees can now connect to corporate systems using either personal or company-issued devices through secure methods such as Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) or cloud-based platforms. This has made teleworking, work-from-home setups, and flexible work hours increasingly common and practical, allowing for greater productivity and work-life balance.
Growing Volume of Traffic
Professionals in the modern workplace must have access to private apps stored in a data centre or a multi-cloud setup. Nevertheless, these programs might not always be easily accessible from branch offices or by remote workers and staff members might not have instant support for IT. Organizations must discover solutions to this problem so that remote workers may consistently and dependably access company resources while also making the most of their current assets. It is important to note that employees need reliable and secure ways to access their work tools from anywhere, just like they would in the office.
Battling Networking and Security Issues in a Post-Pandemic Setting
While many businesses have successfully adopted a cloud-first approach for new system implementations or have deployed specific Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions, many are still struggling to fully reap the benefits of moving most or all of their business software to the cloud.
- Conventional IT frameworks allowed for the creation of the present company applications. Because of this, these applications are frequently inflexible and configured for fixed capacity across a limited number of data facilities. Certain organizations could lack the elements required to oversee an entire cloud migration. This could be the result of things like an affinity for on-premises systems, aversion to alteration, or a lack of experience with cloud systems.
- Although cloud computing might be a cost-effective solution for some workloads, it might not be the best choice overall. Running certain applications in a combination of cloud services or on-premises may be more cost-effective.
- Particularly if they are regionally distributed, workloads requiring high connection speeds or low latency may not be ideal for cloud computing.
- If a corporation lacks authority over the servers in the cloud, it may be concerned about the integrity of its data stored there. Consequently, they would rather keep it inside their data facilities.
- Firms may be restricted in their ability to migrate some types of information to the cloud by legal or compliance regulations.
Networking and Cybersecurity Consolidation: Handling Present Risks
In the past, protecting a network required establishing boundaries and keeping an eye on communication between recognized devices. However, it is now required for a network's components to work together as a cohesive system due to shifting expectations. To do this, flexible network pieces must be able to communicate with one another while also protecting workflows, apps, and payments that move across different devices. The current problem is to effortlessly combine security with network capabilities and connection so that data can flow between constantly moving devices while being inspected, encrypted, and subject to regulation.
Infrastructure and security personnel must update their methods and equipment to better meet these constraints to deliver reliable, efficient, and trustworthy access across users, apps, and regions within an enterprise. Inevitably, networking and safety will eventually merge for improved organizational alignment.
Businesses may stay ahead of the competition in attracting top people in an increasingly diverse and cost-effective workplace by integrating a virtual and physical workforce. The future of security solutions lies in consolidation and platformisation; a cloud-centric Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) the capacity offering paired with network edge capabilities like secured Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) can improve and automate the safety measures of the company while also cutting down on the complexity and expense of managing disparate point remedies.
Safe Networking: Moving Towards This Phenomenon and Concentration of Cybersecurity
Companies relying on conventional networking models often face challenges in securing modern elements, such as cloud-based applications, remote users, mobile devices, and distributed locations, because traditional networks were not designed with these factors in mind. A robust networking strategy integrates both safety and networking into one system to get around these problems. It enhances security posture and network performance. It improves the user's experience and lessens the complexities of management. It is important to combine point product providers into a risk management platform rather than implementing safety measures one at a time. Tighter cooperation, greater efficiency, and a quicker, better-coordinated reaction to network threats are made possible by this.
SASE: A Coordinated Method
Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) is a cloud-based architecture that offers security and networking solutions as needed and unites all edges into a single logical connection.
SASE drivers
Conventional safety measures are ill-suited to deal with the more dispersed and complicated IT environment brought about by the advent of the Internet of Things, edge computing, and telecommuting. Using SASE, security and network services may be accessed from the cloud, eliminating the need to backhaul traffic to a single data centre for safety assessment.
- Distant user traffic assessment and blind spots presented difficulties for companies.
- Full oversight over hybrid network operations is provided by SASE technology, which provides network services including FWaaS, SWG, DLP, and CASB.
- Issues around abnormal port usage and policy violations have arisen as more customers access SaaS apps from different gadgets and regions.
- SASE technology reduces the cost of hiring IT staff by combining safe access to resources from one supplier.
- SASE technology consolidates secure accessibility capabilities from one vendor, hence lowering the cost of hiring IT workers.
- One major benefit of SASE technology is its ease of administration. Even when overseeing multiple offices inside a corporate network, the IT department's job is minimized because a single cloud-based administrator manages the entire system.
Recommendations
- For high-risk use cases, consider utilizing Zero Trust Network Access to supplement or replace the outdated VPN for distant users.
- Take inventory of the gear and agreements in order to progressively replace the branch and perimeter hardware on-site over a few years in favour of delivering SASE functionalities via the cloud.
- Simplify and cut expenses by grouping suppliers when VPN, CASB, and encrypted web portal agreements are up for renewal. Profit from a market that has come together and integrated these security edge services.
- Limit SASE products to a couple of partnering companies.
- Irrespective of location, integrate Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) and methods of authorization (such as MFA) for every client, including those in the workplace or branch.
- To meet security and regulatory requirements, select SASE products that provide you control over where inspection takes place, how traffic is directed, what is recorded, and where records are kept.
Conclusion
The development of cloud technology, the rise of offsite and hybrid workplaces, and the increased challenges in communication and privacy following the pandemic highlight the necessity for a comprehensive and integrated strategy. By adopting SASE (Secure Access Service Edge), a cloud-centric framework that enables secure connectivity across diverse environments, businesses can enhance cybersecurity, streamline operations, and adapt to the evolving needs of modern workplaces. This approach ultimately contributes to a safer and more efficient future for information architecture.
References
- https://www.dsci.in/files/content/knowledge-centre/2023/DSCI-Fortinet%20POV%20Paper.pdf
- https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/cloud/cloud-trends-and-cybersecurity-challenges-navigating-future
- https://banagevikas.medium.com/cybersecurity-trends-2024-navigating-the-future-10383ec10efe
Authors:
Soumya Gangele (Intern - Tech & Policy), CyberPeace
Neeraj Soni (Sr. Researcher), CyberPeace
Introduction
India currently faces a crucial moment because its digital system experiences rapid growth while cyber criminals take advantage of this development to increase their fraudulent activities. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has implemented a new regulatory requirement that mandates all messaging and communication platforms to use SIM-binding technology as their primary security measure. The new rule, which starts on 1st March 2026, requires WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal and other similar applications to operate only when users have their registered SIM card present in their device. The telecom identifier restriction aims to prevent unauthorised access, but it creates significant privacy concerns, together with issues of proportionality and platform governance.
Understanding the SIM-Binding Directive
SIM-binding establishes direct links between communication platform accounts and the SIM cards used for registration. The application will stop working when users take out their SIM card, turn it off, or get a new SIM card. Users must re-authenticate their sessions through the main device because web-based sessions, including WhatsApp Web, will automatically log out after six hours of use.
The Telecommunications Act, 2023 and Telecom Cyber Security Rules serve as the base legal authority for this directive. The regulation requires Telecommunication Identity User Entities (TIUEs), which identify users through mobile numbers, to maintain service access based on verified telecommunications credentials.
Rationale: Addressing Cyber Fraud and Misuse
The policy exists because cyber fraud activities have reached a point where they require a more powerful response. Authorities have stated that messaging applications maintain their operational capacity even after users remove their SIM cards, which allows international scammers to use Indian phone numbers for their fraudulent activities. SIM-binding aims to:
- Restore traceability by linking active accounts to verified SIM-based identities.
- Reduce remote access abuse, which includes both account takeovers and impersonation scams.
- Stop fraudulent activities that require physical device access through the creation of permanent sessions.
- Build a system of accountability that extends throughout the telecommunications industry.
The government introduced this measure as an appropriate solution to deal with systemic vulnerabilities because reported cyber fraud losses in 2024 reached more than ₹22,800 crore.
Security with Responsibility
The system requires digital trust to be established through secure identity verification systems, which include official systems for verification and operational systems that enable governmental agencies to work together.
CyberPeace principles require security measures to maintain three essential conditions, which are:
- They must respond to existing dangers
- Their execution process must be open to public observation
- They need to protect user rights, which include their right to privacy and personal independence
- They must provide equal access while safeguarding against negative impacts on at-risk user groups.
Industry Response and Governance Challenges
The directive has received diverse responses from people who work in different fields. Some platforms are testing SIM presence verification features for their upcoming changes, according to reports, while industry groups representing major technology companies have raised legal issues. They argue that the mandate may exceed the regulatory scope of the DoT and potentially conflict with constitutional protections. The existing tension demonstrates how governments face difficulties because they must protect national security while managing international platform operations and legal systems. The situation requires multiple stakeholders to work together because governments, industry, and civil society need to design policies through their collective input.
Policy Insights and Recommendations
The successful balanced execution of this initiative depends on these two essential elements:
- Clear Implementation Guidelines: Organizations need to establish detailed technical standards together with compliance frameworks, which must be followed during their implementation process across various platforms.
- Privacy Safeguards: The telecom service provider must implement strong data protection measures that protect customer data from unauthorised access through SIM-binding technology.
- User Awareness and Transparency: Users should receive information about SIM-binding effects on their access rights, together with security controls, which will help them build trust and provide informed consent.
- Flexibility for Edge Cases: Provisions should exist for legitimate use cases such as device changes, international travel, and accessibility needs.
- Global Interoperability Dialogue: India should engage with global stakeholders to ensure that such measures do not fragment the digital ecosystem.
Conclusion
The SIM-binding directive establishes India’s defence against cyber threats by solving a specific problem that exists in digital identity verification. The system establishes CyberPeace as its fundamental base through its shift from reactive cybersecurity practices toward preventive digital governance methods.
The system will achieve its desired results only if it effectively manages the three elements of security protection, privacy maintenance, and user convenience. SIM-binding and similar policies require ongoing assessment because their implementation affects both national security and the fundamental principles of trustworthiness, inclusiveness, and ethical digital governance.
References
- https://www.opindia.com/2026/02/sim-binding-to-be-implemented-from-1st-march-what-it-means-and-how-it-will-impact-users/
- https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/sim-binding-rule-set-to-change-how-whatsapp-telegram-work-in-india-from-march-1-11148903#:~:text=Under%20the%20new%20framework%2C%20messaging,is%20re%2Dinserted%20and%20authenticated.
- https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/tech-news/telecom-departments-sim-binding-rule-to-come-into-effect-from-tomorrow-march-1-what-is-sim-binding-how-it-works-and-what-it-means-for-whatsapp-users/articleshow/128879561.cms
- https://www.deccanherald.com/technology/whatsapp-begins-testing-sim-binding-in-india-3913963
