Indian disinformation surges after strikes

Social media has been flooded with misleading videos following India’s recent strikes on Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

According to a fact-check by Deutsche Welle (DW), several widely shared clips purporting to show the attacks have been proven false, repurposed from unrelated conflicts to stoke tensions.

The strikes, codenamed Operation Sindoor by the Indian Ministry of Defence, targeted what India described as militant infrastructure. Pakistan, however, reported that the attacks resulted in the deaths of 26 civilians. The escalation follows India’s accusation that Pakistan was behind the Pahalgam attack in India-administered Jammu and Kashmir, which claimed 26 lives on April 22.

In the wake of the strikes, social media became inundated with dramatic videos claiming to depict Indian missiles hitting Pakistan. One video, shared widely under the hashtag Operation Sindoor, amassed over five million views within a day. Yet, fact-checkers have found that the footage is misleading.

Indian news shares video of Wales claiming it is Afghanistan

One of the most circulated videos shows missiles lighting up the night sky, suggesting a recent Indian assault. However, a reverse image search traced the clip back to October 2024, when it was originally broadcast by DD India, the state-owned Indian news channel. The video actually depicts Iranian missile strikes on Israel from over seven months ago. The video’s distinctive on-screen graphics, which some believed to indicate a location in Pakistan, are in fact part of the original broadcast’s visual branding.

Another viral video allegedly showing the aftermath of the strikes in Pakistan was debunked after fact-checkers traced it back to a separate incident in Gaza three weeks prior. The footage features Arabic speakers amidst chaotic scenes of dust and debris – clear indicators that it was not filmed in Pakistan.

According to DW, this surge of misleading content highlights how social media is increasingly being weaponised during conflicts to spread disinformation. The videos in question appear aimed at inflaming public sentiment and creating confusion about the true nature of the strikes.

This isn’t the first time video game footage or unrelated conflict scenes have been circulated as evidence of military action. As digital manipulation techniques improve, it becomes increasingly important to verify the origin of such videos.

Platforms such as DW Fact Check have been at the forefront of debunking these misleading claims, urging users to critically assess the source of dramatic footage and avoid spreading unverified content.

For a more detailed breakdown of these false claims, readers can visit the original report by Deutsche Welle here.