A Comprehensive Review of Deepfake Detection Pertaining to Images, Videos, Audio, and News using Deep Learning Techniques

Deepfakes, which are synthetic media realistic in nature generated using artificial intelligence (AI); pose a significant threat to individuals and society. The rapid advancement of deepfake technology has led to the creation of highly realistic synthetic content covering images, videos, audio, and news. While deepfake applications offer creative possibilities, their misuse for misinformation, identity fraud, and cybersecurity threats necessitates robust detection methods. Deepfake crimes are rising daily, wherein deepfake media detection has become a big challenge and has high claim in digital forensics. This review explores the state-of-the-art deep learning (DL) techniques for deepfake detection of four parameters, namely images, videos, audio, and news. The ML approaches rely on handcrafted features but struggle with evolving deepfake methods. In contrast, DL techniques, such as Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks, have demonstrated superior detection accuracy by learning discriminative features. Even Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs), and Transformer-based architectures like Bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT), have demonstrated superior accuracy in identifying manipulated content. Furthermore, recent advancements such as Vision Transformers (ViTs) and Explainable AI (XAI) models are enhancing detection interpretability and robustness. This review highlights the future research directions for strengthening deepfake detection mechanisms. The rapid advancements in deepfake generation necessitate continuous research and development of countermeasures.