Comment by Riaz Haq on May 6, 2023 at 10:17am

Impact Of Fake News On Pakistan – OpEd

https://www.eurasiareview.com/10012023-impact-of-fake-news-on-pakis...

By Muhammad Usman Ghani


Pakistan, like the rest of the world, is facing a major threat from fake news. Access to news, political division, manipulation of social media conversations, trust in the news media, health information, and hate speech are all things that fake news has caused or spread.

According to a report by Media Matters for Democracy (MMfD), from 2015 to 2020, the number of Pakistani broadband Internet users went from 17 million to 83 million, which is almost a fourfold increase. The number of mobile broadband users grew the most. Despite a considerable digital divide—Internet penetration is less than 44% of the population—the availability of 3G and 4G mobile Internet has also led to a small but consistent growth in social media use. From 2013 on, political debates on the two biggest social media sites, Facebook and Twitter, became more popular in Pakistan. This followed a trend that was almost identical to the one seen in the United States. MMfD published that nine out of ten Pakistanis currently see disinformation as an issue, and seventy percent of the population thinks Facebook’s platform is utilized most often to propagate misinformation in the nation.

Fake news messages have significantly impacted the public’s opinion of Pakistan’s anti-polio vaccination campaign. In order to discourage parents from vaccinating their children, these misinformation tactics draw on existing vaccine scepticism and common religious or xenophobic stereotypes. In 2019, a fake video about how vaccinations affect children caused hundreds of thousands of Facebook users to interact with false anti-vaccine information. This may have been part of a chain of events that led to the suspension of the country’s anti-polio vaccination campaign. Similarly, press reports and public surveys revealed that COVID-19 misinformation campaigns caused many to believe the coronavirus was a foreign scheme, an overblown danger, or a fake. Such ideas seem to have directly affected people’s attitude about COVID-19 precautions, as seen by the public’s irresponsible behavior before the second coronavirus outbreak in Pakistan. The COVID-19 deception also caused some to avoid medical care and commit violent crimes against health personnel. People were getting the wrong idea from fake messages and conspiracy theories that doctors were working together to make more people die from the coronavirus.

“DisInfo Lab,” a non-governmental organization based in the EU, created a matrix of the Indian misinformation campaign in 2019 and 2020. This campaign relied heavily on fake news sources in social media and mainstream media to lobby international and civil society against Pakistan. Since 2005, the Indian news agency Asian News International (ANI) and the Delhi-based Shrivastava group have contributed to the creation of 256 anti-Pakistan websites that disseminate false information to 65 countries. Reports say that important parts of the larger syndicate were social organizations and humanitarian groups with ties to the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU). Nearly ten UNHRC-affiliated NGOs have been identified as spreading anti-Pakistan propaganda. During the campaign, Dr. Louis B. Sohn, a Harvard professor of International Humanitarian Law, took part in humanitarian conferences about the Baloch separatist movement in 2011.

This cyber misinformation effort, which lasted for over a decade, was reportedly signed in placing Pakistan on the “grey list” of the FATF, which carries accusations of funding violent extremism. Since then, Pakistan has worked hard to change the mix of false ideas about it. The current government of Pakistan has put out a detailed report on how India has lied and been dishonest in international affairs. Still, the United Nations Security Council and its important P5 members haven’t done much to deal with or stop the growing threat.

Comment by Riaz Haq on May 6, 2023 at 1:38pm

#India (ranked 161 among 180 countries) drops below #Pakistan (ranked 150) in #PressFreedomIndex Rankings for 2023. In the rankings for 2022, it was India that was ranked 150, while Pakistan came in at 157. #Fakenews #Modi #BJP #Hindutva #Fascism https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-slips-in-world-press-f...

https://twitter.com/haqsmusings/status/1654946945734168576?s=20


India slips in World Press Freedom Index, ranks 161 out of 180 countries
In comparison, Pakistan climbed up seven ranks to reach 150 this year.
May 03, 2023 10:34 am | Updated May 04, 2023 10:47 am IST - New Delhi

THE HINDU BUREAU

India’s ranking in the 2023 World Press Freedom Index has slipped to 161 out of 180 countries, according to the latest report released by global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF). In comparison, Pakistan has fared better when it comes to media freedom as it was placed at 150, an improvement from last year’s 157th rank. In 2022, India was ranked at 150.

Sri Lanka also made significant improvement on the index, ranking 135th this year as against 146th in 2022

Norway, Ireland and Denmark occupied the top three positions in press freedom, while Vietnam, China and North Korea constituted the bottom three.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) comes out with a global ranking of press freedom every year. RSF is an international NGO whose self-proclaimed aim is to defend and promote media freedom. Headquartered in Paris, it has consultative status with the United Nations. The objective of the World Press Freedom Index, which it releases every year, “is to compare the level of press freedom enjoyed by journalists and media in 180 countries and territories” in the previous calendar year.

Also read: Exponential rise in attacks on press freedom: PCI-IWPC

RSF defines press freedom as “the ability of journalists as individuals and collectives to select, produce, and disseminate news in the public interest independent of political, economic, legal, and social interference and in the absence of threats to their physical and mental safety.”

Concerns arise
The Indian Women's Press Corps, the Press Club of India, and the Press Association released a joint statement voicing their concern over the country's dip in the index.

"The indices of press freedom have worsened in several countries, including India, according to the latest RSF report," the joint statement said.

"For developing democracies in the Global South where deep pockets of inequities exist, the media's role cannot be understated. Likewise the constraints on press freedom due to hostile working conditions like contractorisation have to also be challenged. Insecure working conditions can never contribute to a free press," it added.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor too, commented on the embarrassing development.

"Time for all of us to hang our heads in shame: India slips in World Press Freedom Index, ranks 161 out of 180 countries," he wrote on Twitter.

Comment by Riaz Haq on June 12, 2023 at 6:36pm

Prashant Bhushan
@pbhushan1
"Indian govt told Twitter to black out farmers protests&tweets by journalists critical of the govt. Threatened to shut Twitter down in India&raid the homes of Twitter employees, which they did. And India is supposed to be a democratic country!": Jack Dorsey, former CEO of Twitter

https://twitter.com/pbhushan1/status/1668351603433168924?s=20

Comment by Riaz Haq on September 27, 2023 at 9:00pm

Meta’s India team delayed action against Army-led misinformation operation in Kashmir: Washington Post - The Hindu



https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/metas-india-team-delayed-act...

Facebook parent Meta’s Indian team delayed action against an organised propaganda and misinformation operation led by the Indian Army’s Chinar Corps in Jammu and Kashmir for a year, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing former employees at the company. According to the report, Army officials met representatives of Twitter and Facebook and defended the operation as a counter against Pakistani misinformation networks.

The report cited members of Meta’s Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior (CIB) team for Facebook, whose brief was to flag fake profiles and networks of accounts that artificially amplified messages on the social network around the world. When the CIB flagged the Chinar Corps’s alleged operation, Meta staff in India reportedly “warned against antagonising the government of a sovereign nation over actions in territory it controls,” and expressed concern that local employees “could be imprisoned for treason,” the Post reported.

Disinformation campaign
It is unclear what the Chinar Corps’ network was posting, but the report cites “disinformation that put Kashmiri journalists in danger,” adding that many CIB employees at Facebook quit the company after Indian Meta staff stymied any pushback. The operation reportedly targeted Srinagar-based media outlet The Kashmiriyat and its editor Qazi Shibli. The Hindu has reached out to Army representatives for comment.

“As a global company, we operate in an increasingly complex regulatory environment and are focused on keeping people safe when they use our services and ensuring the safety of our employees in a manner consistent with applicable laws and human rights principles,” Meta said in a statement shared with The Hindu, adding that it prohibited coordinated inauthentic behaviour on its platforms.



This is not the first time the social media firm has been accused of allowing propaganda networks in India to go unchecked. In 2020, The Wall Street Journal reported that posts by Telangana BJP MLA T. Raja Singh calling for violence against Rohingya immigrants from Myanmar were not taken down, in spite of warnings from Meta staff in the U.S., due to pushback from Ankhi Das, Mr. Thukral’s predecessor.

Comment by Riaz Haq on December 11, 2023 at 1:35pm

Dr. Audrey Truschke
@AudreyTruschke
Disinfo Labs — a group that promotes far-right Hindutva conspiracy theories against critics of the Modi government — is an Indian intelligence operation, WaPo reports.

Some thoughts on why this matters —

https://x.com/AudreyTruschke/status/1734210988625305897?s=20

-------------------

EU DisinfoLab
@DisinfoEU
Many of you read
@wapo
’s investigation and we want to reiterate that there's no association between us and 'The DisinfoLab', an Indian entity.

@gerryshih
revealed their connections to Indian Intelligence and a deliberate use of our name to leverage our established credibility.

https://x.com/DisinfoEU/status/1734220723764236601?s=20

---------------

Covert Indian operation seeks to discredit Modi’s critics in the U.S. - The Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/10/india-the-disinfo-l...

The Disinfo Lab, which at one point consisted of about a dozen private contractors working out of a four-story whitewashed building on a leafy street in New Delhi, was created in mid-2020 by Lt. Col. Dibya Satpathy, now 39, an intelligence officer who has worked to shape international perceptions of India, said the three people familiar with the operation. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive intelligence activities.

Satpathy was initially commissioned as an infantry officer and served in the army’s intelligence and public information units, said a person briefed on his military personnel record. That person and another source close to the military said Satpathy was later detailed to his current posting with India’s external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). Over the years, Satpathy has introduced himself to Western journalists and commentators under fake identities — including his preferred alias, Shakti, meaning “power” in Hindi — and sought favorable coverage of India or critical coverage of its adversaries, Pakistan and China, according to five additional people who have had contact with Satpathy.

Comment by Riaz Haq on May 5, 2025 at 12:04pm

War As Spectacle: How Indian Media Stages A Battle Before First Bullet

By Rohineet Singh

https://thefridaytimes.com/05-May-2025/war-as-spectacle-how-indian-...

Indian news channels seem less concerned with informing or sensitising the public, and more invested in inflaming their sentiments.

Even before the armed forces could finalise their inventory for a possible strike along the eastern border, TV channels had already gone full throttle, detailing India’s military strength and presenting hypothetical battle plans. Facts or classified status of the information were never a concern.

Instead of reflecting on events or promoting democratic discourse, this rush to create media narratives only gives Pakistan a reason to argue that it is being scapegoated

Rather than pursuing balanced reporting or demanding accountability, most of India’s media have once again chosen to amplify war rhetoric—stoking public anger, creating fear, and sensationalising an already sensitive situation.

While Pakistan may appear the obvious target, pseudo-nationalist sentiment has turned Indian Muslims and young Kashmiri boys into scapegoats—both in the valley and across the country.

In fact, perhaps the Indian government should consider sending the chiefs of the three armed forces on vacation. They could appoint the likes of Arnab Goswami, Editor-in-Chief of Republic TV, to launch missiles from his Mumbai studio, and Navika Kumar to lead the battalion.

After all, why shed the blood of soldiers on the border when hyper-nationalist journalists have volunteered to take on the war?

Every Indian news channel is filled with provocative headlines. Republic TV aired titles like “Avenge Pahalgam Attack” and even called for a “Final Solution” for Pakistan and Indian Muslims.

According to a detailed post by Indian media watchdog Newslaundry, many newspapers and TV channels have been complicit in this frenzy.

Times Now ran segments proclaiming, “Will gun down every terrorist.” Zee Media explained diplomatic strikes on Pakistan in great detail, boasting about India’s arsenal and the ease with which Pakistan could be wiped from the map. Whether the information was classified or verified never became part of the conversation.

Aaj Tak, part of the India Today group, had anchors yelling dramatic headlines like “Ghati me aatank par akhri war kab?” (When will the final blow on terror in the valley happen?). Its reports included on-ground footage of reporters peeping inside hollow tree trunks—as if conducting reconnaissance for war.

After the Indian government's decision to suspend the Indus Water Treaty, news channels screamed that Pakistan would now “die of thirst.” There was no time to verify treaty facts or realise that stopping river flows might flood northern India. But the idea that “India will stop the river and Pakistan will die” was good enough for TRPs. Facts could wait.

Comment by Riaz Haq on June 4, 2025 at 5:45pm

How misinformation overtook Indian newsrooms amid conflict with Pakistan - The Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/06/04/india-news-channels...

Journalists from some of India’s largest news networks spoke to The Post about why falsehoods filled the airwaves during a crucial and dangerous moment.

NEW DELHI — Shortly after midnight on May 9, an Indian journalist received a WhatsApp message from Prasar Bharati, the state-owned public broadcaster. Pakistan’s army chief had been arrested, the message read, and a coup was underway.

Within minutes, the journalist posted the information on X and others followed suit. Soon enough, it was splashed across major Indian news networks and went viral on social media.

The “breaking news” was entirely false. There had been no coup in Pakistan. Gen. Asim Munir, far from being behind bars, would soon be elevated to the rank of field marshal.

It was the most glaring — but far from the only — example of how misinformation swept through Indian newsrooms last month during several of the most violent nights between the nuclear-armed neighbors in decades.

The Washington Post spoke to more than two dozen journalists from some of India’s most influential news networks, as well as to current and former Indian officials, about how the country’s information ecosystem became inundated with falsehoods — and how it warped the public’s understanding of a crucial moment. The journalists spoke on the condition that their names and employers remain anonymous, fearing professional reprisals. Most of the officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information.

As the fighting escalated night after night, few Indian officials were put forward to explain what was happening, said Nirupama Rao, India’s former foreign secretary. The vacuum was filled on television newscasts by “hypernationalism” and “abnormal triumphalism,” Rao said, creating what she called a “parallel reality.”

Times Now Navbharat reported that Indian forces had entered Pakistan; TV9 Bharatvarsh told viewers that Pakistan’s prime minister had surrendered; Bharat Samachar said he was hiding in a bunker. All of them, along with some of the country’s largest channels — including Zee News, ABP News and NDTV — repeatedly proclaimed that major Pakistani cities had been destroyed.

To support the false claims, networks aired unrelated visuals from conflicts in Gaza and Sudan, from a plane crash in Philadelphia — and even scenes from video games.

Zee News, NDTV, ABP News, Bharat Samachar, TV9 Bharatvarsh, Times Now and Prasar Bharati did not respond to requests for comment.

“It’s the most dangerous version of what a section of TV news channels have been doing for a decade, completely unchecked,” said Manisha Pande, media critic and managing editor of Newslaundry, an independent news outlet. “At this point, they’re like Frankenstein’s monsters — completely out of control.”

India has one of the most expansive and linguistically diverse media landscapes in the world. Nine hundred television channels attract millions of viewers each evening across Indian towns and cities; newspapers still have a wide reach in rural areas.

Over many decades, the country’s independent press has played a critical role in exposing government corruption and holding power to account. In the past decade, however, particularly in television news, that independence has been eroded.

Some of India’s largest channels now routinely echo government talking points, analysts say — out of ideological alignment with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, or as a result of pressure from the state, which has prosecuted journalists under terrorism, sedition and defamation laws, as well as by using regulatory threats and tax probes to silence critical voices.

Pande also attributes the shift to opportunism. “For most of these anchors, aligning with power is a calculated career move,” she said.

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