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The Maharashtra Cyber Police has identified more than 500 social media profiles allegedly linked to a coordinated disinformation campaign during the ongoing
CJP protests. The police has claimed that a significant portion of the misleading content came from accounts operating outside India and relied heavily on artificial intelligence to spread disinformation.
According to the agency, a technology-driven monitoring operation was launched to track online activity related to the protests. The exercise used Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), metadata examination, behavioural analysis and advanced audio-video forensic tools to detect coordinated efforts to spread misinformation.
Officials said that the probe uncovered a network circulating false and misleading content aimed at influencing public opinion, creating confusion and potentially disturbing public order.
Maharashtra Cyber Police identified 429 objectionable posts and social media handles across major platforms, including Instagram, X, Facebook and YouTube.
Technical analysis conducted by the agency found that around 100 of the identified accounts were being operated from outside India, particularly from Pakistan and several countries in the Middle East. Investigators alleged that these accounts were actively amplifying misleading narratives targeting Indian audiences during the protests.
More than 140 posts and profiles were found to contain AI-generated or AI-assisted material, including deepfake videos, cloned voices, synthetic audio recordings, digitally enhanced crowd visuals and manipulated footage.
The cyber agency said its forensic tools detected multiple instances of facial reenactment and voice cloning. In one case, investigators reportedly found 100 per cent confidence of synthetic speech and around 82 per cent confidence of video manipulation.
The findings come amid heightened scrutiny of misinformation linked to the CJP protests.
Maharashtra Cyber said legal proceedings have been initiated against the identified accounts and requests have been sent to social media intermediaries seeking the removal of objectionable content.
Officials have also urged citizens to verify information before sharing it online, warning that AI-generated content and deepfakes are increasingly being used to manipulate public perception.
