Fake pictures, real trouble: Mamata Banerjee-PeeCee, Dhoni-Taskin Ahmed - morphed images that made headlines

The 'Harvard Lampoon' was recently forced to apologise for publishing a sexualised image of Anne Frank that depicted her face on the body of a bikini-clad woman.

A look at other times morphing an image made headlines.

1. Mamata Banerjee

Case 1- BJYM's Priyanka Sharma puts up photoshop picture of Mamata Di & is now in jail. But Mamata is not fascist… https://t.co/WqnSexCObW

— Tejasvi Surya (@Tejasvi_Surya) 1557499140000

In May this year, the Supreme Court of India asked Priyanka Sharma of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha to apologise to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Sharma was arrested after she shared a photo in which Banerjee’s face was morphed onto Priyanka Chopra’s much-talked about Met Gala look. After her release, Sharma claimed that she was forced to write an apology and that she wasn’t sorry for the meme.

2. Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin

Agencies

The cover was released days after Trump sided with Putin over American intelligence agencies’ reports of Russian interference in the US election.

In July 2018, Time magazine morphed the faces of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to create an eerie love-child cover for its print edition. The magazine also posted a GIF of the US President morphing into the Russian President and back to show Trump’s close association with Russia. The cover was released days after Trump sided with Putin over American intelligence agencies’ reports of Russian interference in the US election.

3. Sheikh Hasina
In January, Monir Hossain, a 35-year-old man in Bangladesh, was sentenced to seven years in jail. He was found guilty of circulating, in 2013, doctored pictures of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and other politicians, including India’s former prime minister Manmohan Singh. This news caused waves amidst criticism of how the Bangladeshi government was implementing strict Internet laws to curb dissent.

4. Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Terrible picture of Taskin Ahmed holding MS Dhoni's chopped head. Cricket is just a game, not some war. https://t.co/H3DU5zNu1o

— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) 1457160748000

In 2016, just a day ahead of the final match in the Asia Cup between India and Bangladesh, a morphed picture of the right-arm Bangladeshi spinner Taskin Ahmed holding the severed head of then Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni went viral. The picture angered Indian fans on social media and was heavily criticised by the Bangladeshi media. India won the final and the cup by eight wickets.

5. Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus
In January 2018, risqué pictures of Lady Gaga and Miley were turned into faux nude ads for the Grammys by conservative street artist Sabo. The adverts appeared on the walls of Hollywood right before the Grammys, where Gaga and Cyrus were set to perform. The photos used by Sabo were taken by Terry Richardson, who has been accused of sexual harassment. The ads said #weallknew, which was an attack on the musicians for not speaking up against sexual predators. Sabo also said he targeted the music industry for its misogynistic lyrics.