India Online: When AI, Viral Videos and Real Behavior Begin to Shape a Nation’s Image

A country can now be judged by a video lasting less than a minute.

It may show a street, a tourist, a food vendor, a public celebration—or something that never happened at all.

For India, this creates a complicated new challenge. The country’s image abroad is no longer shaped only by newspapers, television, films, diplomacy and tourism campaigns. It is increasingly shaped by algorithms, influencers, viral clips and artificial intelligence.

A recent controversy illustrates the problem.

An AI-generated video showing a supposed Indian street-food vendor rolling rotis on his bare stomach while sitting among garbage circulated widely online. American content creator Kristen Fischer, who lives in India, publicly challenged the clip and said it was fabricated. Reports said the original video had accumulated around 28 million views.

The incident was subsequently recorded by the OECD.AI incident monitor as an example of AI-generated content that can contribute to harmful stereotypes and reputational damage.

The disturbing part is not simply that artificial intelligence can manufacture an absurd scene.

It is that the absurd can look real enough to become somebody’s first impression of an entire country.

When fiction becomes a country’s reality

For someone who has never visited India, social media may provide much of their exposure to Indian life.

If an algorithm repeatedly serves videos showing poverty, pollution, disorder or bizarre behaviour—and if some of those videos are fabricated or presented without context—the viewer can gradually develop an exaggerated picture of the country.

That does not mean India’s genuine problems should be hidden.

India does have serious challenges involving pollution, sanitation, overcrowding and civic infrastructure. Honest journalism should report them.

The problem begins when a genuine problem is converted into a manufactured stereotype, or when an AI-generated scene is presented as documentary evidence.

There is an important difference between showing an unpleasant reality and inventing one.

But India also has a responsibility

The debate becomes incomplete if every negative viral video is dismissed as an attempt to damage India’s reputation.

Some criticism comes from real incidents.

In 2026, several videos involving Indian travellers abroad generated substantial discussion about public behaviour. A video showing Indian travellers performing Garba beside an aircraft at an airport in Vietnam triggered criticism over airport safety and etiquette.

More recently, a video of Indian tourists singing and clapping loudly inside a crowded train in Germany revived the same debate about respecting shared public spaces.

These incidents do not prove that Indian tourists generally behave badly.

They do, however, raise a legitimate question: when Indians travel abroad, do some people underestimate how quickly an individual act can become a national stereotype once it is recorded and amplified online?

That is a question worth asking without shame or defensiveness.

A passport carries more than identity

India’s growing international mobility means more Indians are studying, working and travelling overseas.

Every traveller remains an individual. Nobody can reasonably be expected to represent 1.4 billion people.

Yet social media does not always operate rationally.

One video can receive millions of views while millions of ordinary, respectful interactions remain invisible.

That creates a dangerous imbalance.

A group behaving badly at an airport may become international content. Thousands of Indian travellers quietly following local rules will probably never become news.

The answer is therefore not to become afraid of travelling or of celebrating Indian culture abroad.

It is to understand the environment.

Celebrating Garba, speaking Hindi or Marathi, wearing traditional clothing, carrying an Indian flag or sharing Indian food is not inherently inappropriate. The important questions are where, how, when and whether local rules and other people’s rights are being respected.

Culture travels best when it is shared with confidence rather than imposed without context.

AI makes the problem more complicated

Generative AI has introduced another layer to the challenge.

A photograph once carried a strong presumption that something in front of a camera had actually existed. That assumption is becoming weaker.

Videos can now be generated, altered or combined with extraordinary realism.

For news consumers, this means basic digital literacy is becoming increasingly important.

Before believing a sensational video about India—or any other country—viewers should ask:

Who originally posted it?

Is there an identifiable location and date?

Have credible news organisations independently verified it?

Does another source show the same event?

Are there signs that the image or video has been generated or manipulated by AI?

These questions are no longer the preserve of journalists and fact-checkers. They are becoming essential skills for ordinary internet users.

India’s global image cannot be managed by propaganda

There is also a lesson for India itself.

The answer to negative or misleading online narratives cannot simply be to produce more flattering narratives.

That would replace one distortion with another.

India’s global image will ultimately be strongest when reality itself provides the evidence: better public spaces, cleaner cities, responsible tourism, reliable institutions, scientific achievement, cultural confidence and ordinary citizens behaving with consideration.

At the same time, Indian media and social-media users have a responsibility not to circulate sensational foreign videos merely because they confirm what they already believe.

The same standard must apply in both directions.

If a video humiliates India, verify it.

If a video glorifies India, verify it too.

Truth should not depend upon whether the story makes us feel proud or angry.

The DOONITED perspective

The most interesting part of this debate is that India’s reputation is no longer controlled by a small number of international media organisations.

It is being created every day by millions of people—and increasingly by machines.

That creates both a vulnerability and an opportunity.

AI can manufacture a false image of India in seconds. But technology can also help journalists, researchers and citizens identify manipulated content and expose it.

Likewise, one badly behaved traveller can generate an embarrassing viral video, while millions of responsible Indians can quietly demonstrate another side of the country.

The answer is therefore neither blind nationalism nor excessive self-criticism.

It is verification, civic responsibility and confidence grounded in reality.

India does not need the internet to pretend that everything is perfect.

It needs the internet to show the world what is real.

And increasingly, that responsibility belongs not only to governments and media organisations—but to every person holding a smartphone.