Clearing the air: How misinformation fuels psychological warfare

After Indian Armed Forces carried out Operation Sindoor, a retaliatory attack targeting 9 terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (Pok), a flurry of misinformation and propoganda from the neighbouring country has overtaken social media.

The problem has reached such exponential heights that even certain reputed media houses are falling into this trap and reporting 'fake news' as real.

Thus, to clear the air and inform the citzens of the country of the current scenario, The Press Information Bureau undertook the mammoth task of fact-checking.

On Friday morning, PIB released a bunch of tweets which were circulating social media under the mask of 'news' and debunked them using their sources.

In a press briefing PIB wrote, "A barrage of coordinated disinformation has been carried out by certain social media handles in general and mainstream media in particular in Pakistan with the sole objective to instill fear among the Indian masses.

"This psychological warfare has been actively debunked by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) for the last few weeks. In addition, Indian media and social media users have been falling for misinformation. The fact-check unit of PIB put the record straight and debunked misinformation, disinformation and outright lies.

"A total of seven videos were fact-checked between 2200 Hrs on May 08, 2025 and 0630 Hrs. A list of the fact-checked videos, along with their links are compiled below."

Jalandhar 'Drone Attack'

Amidst the blackout on the night of May 8, many social media accounts showcased a barrage of missiles and drones hurled towards towns in North and West India. Though these missiles were intercepted and neturalised, the lack of immediacicy of actual news paved way for misinformation.

Thus, videos of drone attack in Jalandhar were widely being circulated. PIB said, "they investigated the video and found that it was an unrelated video of a farm fire. The video had the timeline of 7:39 pm, while the drone attack began later. The same was backed by the DC of Jalandhar"

Indian post 'destroyed'

Due to intense shelling and increase of exchange of fire along the Line of Control (LoC). Many people, fearing the worst, posted and shared a video of an Indian Army Post being destroyed.

PIB wrote, "An Indian post was claimed to be destroyed by the Pakistani army in one of the fake videos spread online. The video was shared and amplified by a number of fake and unverified accounts.

"PIB found the claim to be completely false and confirmed it to be staged upon verification since there is no unit called “20 Raj Battalion" in the Indian Army. The video aimed to mislead the public and a part of a coordinated propaganda campaign."

'Missile attack pummels India'

When a video of missile attack on India started making rounds on social media PIB took it upon themselves to dispel the rumours, "An old video was shared on Social Media with the claim that Pakistan has launched a missile attack on India in retaliation. PIB upon fact-checking the video busted the disinformation. The video shared was actually of the explosive attack that took place in Beirut, Lebanon in the year 2020."

Army brigade attacked in Rajouri

PIB said , "Information regarding a fidayeen attack on an Army brigade in Rajouri, Jammu and Kashmir was widely shared and circulated. Upon fact-checking, PIB confirmed that no such fidayeen or suicide attack occurred on any army cantonment. The false claims was solely intented to mislead and cause confusion. The video was accordingly flagged.

'Confidential letter by 'Chief of Army Staff'

PIB wrote, "A letter is being shared on Social Media claiming that Chief of the Army Staff Gen V K Narayan has sent a confidential letter regarding military preparedness to the Army officer of Northern Command. "

PIB fact-checked the same and found that Gen. V K Narayan is not the CoAS and confirmed the letter to be completely fake.

'Indian Army uses Amabala airbase to attack Amritsar'

A social media post notoriously claimed that the Indian military used Ambala Airbase to attack Amritsar and its own citizens.

PIB found the claim to be completely baseless and a part of a concerted misinformation campaign. In response, PIB provided a detailed press release of the Ministry of Defence and exposed the real picture.

Entry banned across Indian airports

A social media post was allegedly shared claiming that entry bans into airports across India. PIB busted and debunked the fake narrative and flagged the same since there was no such decision taken from the government.