BJP accused of deploying AI-generated audio to implicate MVA leaders

Just hours before Maharashtra went to polls on November 20, 2024, the BJP came under scrutiny for sharing purported audio clips targeting opposition leaders.

These recordings, posted on the party's official X (formerly Twitter) handle late on November 19, alleged misappropriation of funds involving prominent Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders.

The three audio clips claimed to feature the voices of Supriya Sule of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Nana Patole of Congress, IPS officer Amitabh Gupta, and Gaurav Mehta, an employee of an audit firm.

According to the BJP, the recordings were evidence of a conspiracy by Sule and Patole to misuse bitcoins linked to a 2018 cryptocurrency fraud case to fund the ongoing elections. The party also implicated Gupta and Mehta, alleging their involvement in facilitating these transactions.

Former Pune police officer Ravindranath Patil reportedly reinforced these claims, suggesting he had received voice notes linking the individuals to the alleged misconduct. The BJP amplified these allegations by circulating four audio clips online and addressing the media to highlight the claims.

The recordings portrayed Sule and Patole as seeking cash in exchange for bitcoins stored in multiple cryptocurrency wallets while promising no investigation into the matter. Another recording allegedly depicted Patole pressuring Gupta to convert bitcoins into cash. Gupta and Mehta were further implicated in separate conversations purportedly detailing their compliance with these requests.

However, investigations by fact-checking agencies and AI detection tools have revealed significant flaws in the BJP’s claims. BOOM, a fact-checking organisation, tested the clips using advanced tools such as TrueMedia’s deepfake detection software.

Three of the four recordings were found to be heavily manipulated and generated using artificial intelligence. The fourth recording, lasting only five seconds, did not show substantial evidence of tampering due to its brevity, which made comprehensive analysis difficult.

Comparisons of the voices in the audio clips with publicly available interviews of Sule, Patole, and Gupta further contradicted the BJP’s assertions. None of the voices in the clips matched those of the individuals accused.

For instance, Sule’s voice was contrasted with her interview on a video podcast from 2023, and Patole’s was compared with a recent interview from November 2024. In both cases, discrepancies were identified. Similarly, Gupta’s voice was assessed against interviews from earlier in the year, showing clear inconsistencies.

Further validation came from the Misinformation Combat Alliance’s Deepfake Analysis Unit (DAU), which analysed the recordings using multiple detection tools. The analysis confirmed the use of AI technology to generate three of the clips.

The release of these manipulated recordings has sparked controversy, with critics accusing the BJP of attempting to undermine the credibility of the opposition ahead of a closely contested election. The timing of the posts, just hours before polling, has raised concerns about the misuse of emerging technologies to influence public perception.