Humour lost in irony: misinformation swirls amid India-Pakistan conflict

A surge of misleading content is sweeping through social media in both India and Pakistan, with doctored visuals, misattributed videos, and fake advisories fuelling confusion amid rising military tensions. Despite the looming threat of a full-blown conflict between two nuclear-armed neighbours, the flow of misinformation shows no sign of slowing.

While a massive share of the misinformation originates from Indian mainstream and social media, Pakistan is not entirely immune to these misinformation and disinformation campaigns either.

For instance, yesterday, there were reports of some emergency “sirens” being heard around the federal capital Islamabad. Deputy Commissioner had to issue a statement refuting these claims, and urging people not to pay heed to such misleading attempts and trusting only the official resources.

Even so, the doctored media – photos, videos, recordings etc. – are primarily being engineered and pushed into the mainstream media from India’s side. Before looking into, and debunking, some of the most widely shared media pieces, let’s quickly look at the causes behind this sudden but intense surge in fake news.

PAHALGAM ATTACK AND MILITARY POSTURING

On April 22, 2025, an attack on civilians in the Pahalgam area of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K) claimed the lives of 26 people. Since then India has not only blamed Pakistan for the attack, without presenting any proof to the international audiences, but has also suspended the Indus Water Treaty, and been conducting missile and drone strikes in Pakistan.

Since the first Indian missile strikes on Pakistan on 7 May, a massive barrage of fake news, incorrectly attributed statements and doctored photos and videos have been making their way to the TV screens and social media platforms. Fact-checkers, journalists, and digital investigators have been working continuously to debunk these viral posts misrepresenting past or unrelated events as current developments. The situation has been exacerbated by the lack of timely, clear communication from official sources.