Operation Sindoor: Pakistan floods social media with misinformation

New Delhi, May 7 (IANS) As Indian armed forces successfully struck 9 high-value terror targets across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) under 'Operation Sindoor', a barrage of misinformation emerged from Pakistani media outlets and government-affiliated sources, attempting to distort the narrative of India's counterterrorism operation. 

Multiple Pakistani government-linked media houses and social media accounts began circulating unverified and misleading claims in the hours following the surgical strikes.

Many of these claims were quickly flagged as fake by independent analysts and India's official fact-checking mechanisms.

Among the most prominent falsehoods was the claim that Pakistan had responded with missile strikes on 15 locations within Indian territory.

Several other posts falsely alleged that the Pakistan Air Force had targeted the Srinagar Airbase and that an Indian Army Brigade Headquarters had been destroyed.

These claims were aggressively pushed on X, especially by accounts with substantial followings tied to Pakistan's military media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

However, neither visual nor satellite evidence was provided to corroborate any of these claims. Official fact-checks revealed that many of the visuals used to support the misinformation were not only unrelated but also outdated.

"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 post, the PIB Fact Check said, "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 images and clips shared in the wake of the operation were later identified as either digitally altered from unrelated past events or archival footage being repurposed to create a false sense of retaliation.

Despite the clear absence of substantiation, these fabricated narratives were amplified by several mainstream media outlets in Pakistan, indicating a coordinated attempt to control the post-operation discourse and project a retaliatory posture.

The Indian government has urged citizens and the media to rely solely on authenticated information issued by official sources.