In the wake of India-Pakistan escalation, social media has emerged as a cesspool of misinformation, with individual accounts - including independent journalists - posting unverified videos and photos of military action between the two nuclear-powered neighbours, unleashing panic amongst civilians.
After Indian armed forces targeted nine terrorist infrastructures in Pakistan under ‘Operation Sindoor’ as a retaliation to April 22 Pahalgam attack, old videos of wreckage of fighter jets have resurfaced, screen grabs and artificially generated images are being circulated widely - garnering thousands of views.
How is the fake news circulated?
An X account with a blue tick posted a video on May 7, with the caption, “Happy Diwali, Pakistan. Indian army Jai Hind. #Operation Sindoor.“ The video shows strikes raining down from the night sky in a populated residential area. The video gathered as many as 6.2K reshares, 37k likes, with a hefty 5.1m engagement.
However, it was later flagged by X라이브 바카라 Help Center Authenticity section, stating that the footage is from October 2024, and shows Iranian missiles targeting Israel's Nevatim air base.
The account, which has at least 26k followers and no legitimate ground to verify news visuals, has been posting updates on Operation Sindoor constantly with no warning of discretion of viewers.
What happened on Thursday night?
In the intervening night of May 7 and 8, panic spread on both sides of the border with false videos of attacks in Pakistan라이브 바카라 Sialkot and India라이브 바카라 Amritsar.
“JUST IN: REPORTS OF 6 EXPLOSIONS IN AMRISTAR ON INDIA"
"This video was shared by a resident of Amritsar,” an X account posted. The video shared with this caption had an engagement of 48k.
But the fact is that the Amritsar district administration was undergoing a blackout process. “Please stay at home, do not panic and do not gather outside your houses; keep the outside lights switched off,” ANI posted quoting Amritsar DPRO.
Similarly in Sialkot on Thursday midnight, false visuals of attacks by Indian authorities went viral, reshared thoroughly. A journalist posted a video with the caption “Sialkot in Pakistan right now” that had as many as 2.5m views.
Ministry of Defence on Thursday released a statement, saying that Pakistan attempted to engage a number of military targets in Northern and Western India. The attempts were neutralised by the Integrated Counter UAS Grid and Air Defence systems.
"Today morning, Indian Armed Forces targeted Air Defence Radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan," the statement said.
AltNews verifying Republic's Claims
The viral images of Thursday's alleged attack were of two old images of the Gaza skyline. “The photos were clicked by AFP journalists in Gaza in 2021 after Israeli airstrikes,” Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of AltNews - an organisation that debunks fake news - posted on X.
AltNews also exposed a purported video run by the Republic - India라이브 바카라 major English-language news channel. The video was of a fighter jet claimed to have crashed in the current India- Pakistan escalation. However, a reverse Google search revealed that the visuals were of the April 3, 2025, IAF plane crash in Jamnagar. The fact checking organisation also mentioned that Republic라이브 바카라 coverage of the Jamnagar IAF jet crash aired the visuals that are now viral.
PIB Initiative In Cross-Checking
With major news channels and individual social media accounts flooding the internet with misleading footage and unverified claims, panic has gripped users across platforms spreading widespread anxiety. Press Information Bureau (PIB)- the nodal agency of the Government of India to disseminate fact from fiction - has also been scrutinizing viral information surrounding Operation Sindoor and India-Pakistan escalation.
PIB debunked an old video that claimed a Pakistani attack on an Indian military colony. The video originally was from Indonesia and predated Operation Sindoor launch.
The organisation also shared 2019 visuals which involved Indian Air Force Mi-17 V5 helicopter that crashed near Budgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which is apparently being shared by Pakistani social media accounts in the present context.
