India news today The Way Indian Media Spread Misinformation During India-Pakistan War

Even Trustworthy Channels Had False News and Imaginary Reports

With India-Pakistan tensions military last week, Indian newspapers ran a string of sensational stories: an air attack on a Pakistani nuclear facility, two Indian fighter planes shot down, a devastating attack on Karachi harbor — all with maps and confident details. All of it was false.

As the conflict heated up, an avalanche of misinformation swept the internet, and it became virtually impossible to separate fact from fiction. Pseudospeeches, computer-generated speeches, and fabricated memes went viral. Yet what disturbed media watchers most was that this misinformation did not stay online alone — it overran on mainstream news media, even once-respected ones.

Encouraged by the necessity to be the first with the news and fueled by national fervor, some leading networks aired their unsubstantiated claims. Commentators and journalists adopted more the tone of cheerleaders than journalists, spreading disinformation and stirring popular opinion.

One such story that gained a lot of traction claimed that India had bombed a Pakistani nuclear facility, leading to radiation releases. Another stated the Indian Navy bombing Karachi. These were heard on top channels and discussed at large. But independent fact-checkers could not find any supporting evidence. In fact, images supplied as proof were afterwards discovered to be from Gaza, not Pakistan.

"Television disinformation is especially dangerous," political scientist at American University Dr. Sumitra Badrinathan says. "We generally presume that misinformation is anonymous social media postings. But now established news sources are airing made-up stories. That is a serious problem."

This new event highlights the growing crisis in Indian journalism. While spreading falsehoods or semi-truths on the fly in wartime is no novelty, their magnitude and speed — propelled by social media and political networking — are unprecedented.

Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, anxieties about press freedom in India have increased. All of the news media are considered to be closely allied with the government. Independent journalism still exists — especially online — but such voices are limited in their audience and face legal or physical harassment.

An older anchor, Rajdeep Sardesai of India Today, publicly apologized after his channel had reported that Indian forces shot down Pakistani aircraft. On his YouTube channel, he admitted that the network had leapt into print with unverified reports, and that some of the stories were likely part of a coordinated right-wing disinformation campaign.

"When 24-hour news channels chase ratings, they can easily get caught out," Sardesai said.

Disinformation — created content to deceive or provoke — thrives here. As Dr. Daniel Silverman of Carnegie Mellon University explains, it's designed to evoke emotions, especially among long-time enemies like India and Pakistan. "People are already inclined to think the worst about the other side," he said.

Independent press watchdogs like Alt News, a fact-checking platform, attempted to blow the lid on these falsehoods. They found that even top national news networks like Aaj Tak and News18 had aired false reports. But it is not an easy task — Alt News is now facing defamation lawsuits and its reporters have faced harassment.

India's vast TV network is a huge influence on public opinion. Reporters Without Borders estimate that over 200 million Indian households own TVs and there are around 450 private news channels. That gives television enormous clout — and responsibility.

The Karachi attack story is a case in point. It spread virally on social media, leading X (formerly Twitter) charts, and photos of smoke over a city went viral as proof. Fact-checkers, however, established the video was absolutely nothing to do with Karachi. It transpired later that the Indian Navy ratified no attack had been launched, despite them being prepared for it.