This Conflict’s Disinformation is Out of Control

Across India, Pakistan, and the South Asian diaspora, social media has been flooded with manipulated videos and unverified claims. Some used old footage of a plane crash in Philadelphia as evidence of an attack on Karachi port, while Indian media channels broadcasted claims that entire Pakistani cities have been “wiped off the map.” When CNN asked Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif for evidence of fighter jets they had reportedly shot down, he replied not with a confirmed military report but a simple: “It’s all over social media.” The speed and volume of false news have left skeptical viewers misled and disappointed that they believed it in the first place.