As a deadly attack shook the tourist town of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir last month, triggering military conflict between India and Pakistan, another battle erupted online — a war over truth.
Fake videos using artificial intelligence, recycled war footage and fabricated narratives spread like wildfire across X, WhatsApp, Facebook, and YouTube — fuelling fear, outrage and confusion on both sides of the border.
“This was electronic warfare,” said Raqib Hameed Naik, executive director at the Center for the Study of Organized Hate in Washington DC, who compiled a database of hundreds of misleading posts.
“It was weaponised primarily to fabricate false narratives of military success with fictional visual evidence and to feed hyper-nationalist sentiment, baying for war and more blood,” Mr Naik told the ABC.
“The goal was to manipulate public opinion — the war of perception is everything that matters in modern warfare.”