Unmasking Pakistan's 'Disinformation' Offensive After 'Operation Sindoor'

In pursuing India's surgical strikes under 'Operation Sindoor' against terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), a sustained propaganda campaign by Pakistan followed. It was to mislead through disinformation with the intention of derailed Indian military action's strategic and psychological effect.

From extant and verified facts, the top five salient case studies of Pakistani-disinformation funded disinformation operations ever since Operation Sindoor were to how easily deployable information apparatus under the Pakistan belt attempted to sway national as well as global perception. 

The most steady case of fraudulent propaganda was the example of a Pakistani shooting down an Indian Air Force Rafale combat plane in the context of Operation Sindoor. Certain Pakistani social media websites, and subsequently Indian media, shared what was claimed to be images of the wreckage. Press Information Bureau (PIB) and Indian media also carried out a fact-checking exercise which showed that the images that were shared belonged to an earlier MiG-29 crash in Rajasthan in 2024 and had nothing at all to do with Operation Sindoor.

Lesson: One method by which instantaneous visual "proof" is developed to validate created news reports is by recycling long-ago irrelevant events.

Few Pakistani handles uploaded a video stating that the Indian Air Force's Srinagar Airbase was hit by Pakistan in its retaliatory act. Reverse-image search and geolocation conducted by unbiased fact-checkers revealed the video was of a scene of sectarian violence in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and had nothing to do with any kind of military action in India.

Lesson: Misattribution of the video is employed to create fear, generate confusion, and suggest military parity.

Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, appearing on live TV, proceeded to utilize unsubstantiated social media reports in alleging that Indian aircraft had been shot down and general destruction ensued. Official weight was thus lent to already widespread rumor. The claim was subsequently disproven, though, by the Indian government, and independent corroboration by international organizations did not emerge.

Lesson: Official statements by the government via social media to declare victory in the military can lead to institutionalizing falsehoods.

The viral video does not have any basis in an actual military war. Look closely, and the pictures appear to be from an episode of a video game. Others were swift to perceive the glisten of deceit — most notably the overly bright night sky background and blocky, video game-like simulation of plane movement and explosions. Frame-by-frame analysis also verifies that the graphics do not have the grainy natural texture and depth of true imagery that is so common in computer-generated imagery of sim games.

Clips claiming to depict the shooting down of an Indian warplane by Pakistan are spurious. They are CGI and not combat records. Such gossipy information from unknown sources is not favored and should be cross-checked with reputable news networks and fact-checking websites.