New Delhi: Kerala Police on Thursday (March 26) registered a case against social media platform X and a user account for allegedly circulating an AI-generated video depicting the Prime Minister and the Election Commission of India in what it described as a misleading and defamatory manner, PTI reports. The police said it was acting in response to a complaint flagged through official channels, including the Election Commission of India, reports NDTV Profit.The case was filed by the cyber crime police station in Thiruvananthapuram late on Wednesday night against the X handle Laxmi N Raju (@valiant_Raju), along with others including X Corp. In the FIR, cited by NDTV, the video is claimed to have been posted with the “intention of causing riots in society”. It also says that X, despite directions from the authorities to delete the content, allowed the video to be circulated.The post, dated March 25, appears still to be available on X and the same user account.Police said the video portrayed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in a “misleading and defamatory manner”, according to the New Indian Express. The FIR states that the content had the potential to mislead the public and undermine the credibility of constitutional bodies, reports NDTV. It further alleges that the video was shared with the intention of “causing riots”. Police said the video had not been taken down from the handle at the time action was initiated and appeared to be online on the evening of March 26.The one minute 17 second video refers to a political controversy involving an Election Commission letter from March 2019 that carried the seal of the BJP’s Kerala unit instead of the Commission’s official seal. The CPI(M) recently shared an affidavit linked to this letter, which was sent by the commission to political parties. The Election Commission has explained the issue as a “clerical error” that was later corrected, and said the official responsible had been suspended.Responding to the first controversy – the BJP’s seal on an Election Commission document – Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Thursday that the issue was “unbelievable” and could not be seen as a lapse by a single official, the Economic Times reports.On the police cases against X and the user, the chief minister said on Thursday that “not allowing criticism is not right in a democratic system”. His reference was to the Election Commission, at whose behest this case was reportedly filed.…directing police to take action is a move to block criticism. It shows intolerance towards criticism. Can the ECI behave like that? It has to remove itself from such decisions, Economic Times reports.Vijayan further said that the police were no longer under his control in Kerala, and the action was taken on the direction of the Election Commission.The poll panel had on Tuesday (March 24) said that it has directed the police to take down misleading news about its 2019 letter to parties issue from social media platforms.The case against X and the user registered on Thursday invokes several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including provisions relating to intentional insult to provoke breach of peace, forgery, statements conducing to public mischief, common intention and attempt to influence an election. Section 66C of the Information Technology Act, which pertains to identity theft, has also been invoked, reports the New Indian Express.Police said legal notices were issued to the intermediary platform under relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act and Rules, seeking expeditious removal of the content. The cyber operations wing also initiated measures in line with the Model Code of Conduct to prevent further circulation, NDTV reports.There have been a series of instances of police in different states taking action over AI-generated or altered videos. Says the Times of India, earlier cases include arrests linked to AI-generated clips deemed sensitive or misleading. In Kerala, Kochi police recently issued warnings about sharing digitally altered content, particularly in the context of the approaching elections.There has been no immediate response from X regarding the case or its response to the takedown notice.