NEW DELHI, May 7: As Indian armed forces successfully struck nine high-value terror targets across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) under the banner of ‘Operation Sindoor’, a parallel battle unfolded in the digital realm. A wave of misinformation, primarily originating from Pakistani media outlets and government-affiliated sources, quickly surfaced in an apparent attempt to distort the narrative surrounding India’s decisive counterterrorism operation.
In the immediate aftermath of the surgical strikes, multiple Pakistani government-linked media houses and social media accounts began disseminating unverified and misleading claims. These efforts, many of which have since been debunked, appear to have been aimed at countering India’s strategic communication with a flood of falsehoods.
Among the most widely circulated fake narratives was the claim that Pakistan had retaliated by launching missile strikes on 15 locations within Indian territory. Other misleading posts alleged that the Pakistan Air Force had attacked the Srinagar Airbase and that an Indian Army Brigade Headquarters had been destroyed.
These claims gained traction on X (formerly Twitter), where they were aggressively pushed by accounts with significant followings tied to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of Pakistan’s military. Despite the claims, neither visual nor satellite evidence was presented to substantiate any of them. In fact, official Indian sources and independent analysts promptly flagged many of the visuals used as fake, outdated, or entirely unrelated.
“In a video shared by several pro-Pakistan handles, it is being falsely claimed that the Pakistan Air Force has targeted Srinagar Airbase. The video shared is old and NOT from India. The video is from sectarian clashes that took place in the year 2024 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Rely only on official Government of India sources for authentic information,” the Press Information Bureau (PIB) Fact Check division posted on X.
In another clarification, the PIB Fact Check stated, “Social media posts falsely claim that Pakistan destroyed Indian Brigade Headquarters. This claim is FAKE. Please avoid sharing unverified information and rely only on official sources from the Government of India for accurate information.”
Numerous photos and video clips circulated following Operation Sindoor were subsequently found to be either digitally manipulated or lifted from archival footage of unrelated incidents. Despite the lack of verifiable evidence, many of these fabricated stories were amplified by mainstream media outlets in Pakistan, suggesting a coordinated effort to manage public perception and project an illusion of retaliation.
The Indian government has since issued advisories urging citizens and media professionals to refrain from spreading unverified content. Officials emphasized the importance of relying solely on authenticated information released through official government channels to prevent the further spread of misinformation and to maintain national security awareness during sensitive operations.
