MAM
Weekend Unwind with: Mehul Gupta, co-founder & CEO SoCheers
In this week’s ‘Weekend Unwind’ series where we get to know the person behind the title a little better through a fun lens, we have on the hot seat SoCheers co-founder & CEO Mehul Gupta.
According to Gupta, his entrepreneurial journey started way back in school, when he used his music sensibilities and sold it in the form of mixtapes & mix-MP3s for his school. At 19, he chose to create socheers.com, a homegrown social networking platform for fellow classmates. While that website didn’t last for very long, the brand ‘SoCheers’ did- taking birth as a digital-first marketing & advertising agency in 2013.
In his current role, Gupta manages the operations of the agency while strategically consulting with brands to build their digital and offline stories. Having won several accolades, such as Impact 30 under 30 2019, 100 Smartest Digital Marketing Leaders, and 100 Most Influential Global Youth Marketing, at a young age, he believes he’s just starting his journey.
So without further ado, here goes…
Your mantra for Life
Take it as it comes, but don’t forget to enjoy each moment of the process.
A Book you are currently reading / plan to read
I recently finished reading ‘Think Like a Monk by Jay Shetty,’ and next up on my list is ‘The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy.’ I like how these books talk about life and they’re just a fun change of pace from the stuff I regularly read about advertising & marketing and other work-related topics.
Your Fitness mantra, especially during the pandemic
Fitness is as important as eating food-that’s my mantra. It does require discipline, but once in place, it’ll help you tremendously stay on track. The lockdown got me into doing yoga and meditation regularly, and I’d suggest the same to anyone who wants to take their health seriously, both body and mind.
Your comfort food
Khichdi!
When the chips are down a quote/ philosophy that keeps you going
The universe has your back and everything is eventually going to turn around in your favour.
Your guilty pleasure
Playing ‘Call of Duty’.
When was the last time you tried something new?
I like keeping things fun and am quite experimentative. I recently tried practising guided meditation.
A Life lesson you learnt the hard way
That force-fitting your solutions to situations or people doesn’t really work out. You need to make peace with this fact and figure out calmer ways of resolving things; it’s far more effective.
What gets you excited about life?
I’m always excited about the opportunities and possibilities that every new day brings with it. Along the same lines, meeting new people and learning new things, be it at the office or outside, never fails to excite me.
What’s on top of your bucket list?
In the work sphere, creating a campaign that is executed on a global scale tops my bucket list for this year. We’ve had some huge successes recently, and I want to amplify that momentum.
On the personal front, I have the ambitious goal of travelling to at least six countries by the end of this year.
If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?
Everything will happen the way it is supposed to. No point in being anxious or worried about something that hasn’t or may not happen.
An activity that keeps you motivated / charged during tough times
Playing badminton or cricket, or any sport really.
What lifts your spirits when life gets you down?
Being with my family, my daughter, my friends and my teams – my people, basically!
Your go-to stress buster
Doing either of these two, somewhat opposite, activities: chilling with friends over a couple of beers or getting pumped up playing cricket or badminton.
One thing you would most like to change about the world
I would, maybe, have people put some extra effort into understanding each other and treating everyone with just a little more kindness. When the world comes to terms with the “phenomena” that it’s okay to not be at the centre of it, it’ll become a better place for everyone.
MAM
Deepfakes target women in 93 per cent of cases, report finds
Pi-labs study shows 900 per cent rise in female-focused synthetic media; India sees 60 per cent jump in cybercrime complaints.
MUMBAI: Deepfakes aren’t just fooling cameras, they’re hitting women hardest, turning pixels into a new kind of weapon. A new report from creator intelligence platform Pi-labs has revealed that nearly 93 per cent of deepfake victims are women, with deepfake content targeting females surging 900% in recent years. The findings paint synthetic media as a fast-escalating digital threat with a stark gendered impact.
In India, cybercrime complaints involving women rose from about 50,000 in 2024 to nearly 80,000 by 2026, an increase of roughly 60 per cent in just two years. Almost 98 per cent of deepfake pornography is aimed at women, often powered by face-swapping apps and bot networks that disproportionately target females, including school-age girls. Victims typically fall in the 18–30 age group, with Bengaluru reporting a growing share of cases.
Globally, 62 per cent of deepfake abuse cases involving women go unreported due to stigma, in India, over one-third of women facing online harassment take no action, and many reduce their digital presence after abuse. Close to 33 per cent of women remain unaware of protective laws.
City-level trends show Bengaluru leading with nearly 30 per cent of complaints, followed by Hyderabad (14 per cent), Mumbai (13 per cent), Chennai and Kolkata (5 per cent each), and Delhi (3 per cent).
Pi-labs, CEO and founder Anukush Tiwari said, “AI is one of the most powerful technologies of our time, but like every powerful tool, it reflects the intent of those who use it. We are witnessing a growing trust deficit in digital spaces, where identity can be manipulated within minutes and reputations can be damaged overnight.”
Image morphing and deepfake videos remain the most common forms of misuse. The report also notes a new trend: fully AI-generated female personas (not based on real individuals) gaining high engagement on social platforms, raising questions about digital credibility.
Detection remains challenging due to widespread generative tools and rogue creators. Industry estimates suggest over 5,000 face-swap tools and more than 1,000 voice-cloning applications are accessible online.
pi-labs offers pi-authentify, an AI-driven detection system that scans media for generative markers and provides authenticity scores, as well as Namokavach, a verification portal delivering confidential assessments within two working days. The Payal gaming case was resolved using pi-authentify’s forensic analysis.
The report urges minimising digital footprints and adopting detection tools to limit replication risks. It frames the gendered impact of synthetic media as an urgent digital safety issue requiring coordinated action from individuals, platforms and technology providers.
In a world where faces can be borrowed in seconds, the real crime isn’t just creation, it’s the silence that follows, and women are paying the heaviest price.
