PIB cautions against ‘Pakistan-sponsored propaganda', flags false claims
The Fact Check Unit of the Press Information Bureau (PIB) on Thursday (May 8, 2025) cautioned against 'Pakistan-sponsored propaganda' on social media and urged people to scrutinise information.
'If you encounter dubious content, especially concerning the Indian Armed Forces or any info related to ongoing situation, report it to #PIBFactCheck,' it said on X.
'Social Media post falsely claims India targeted the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project in Pakistan. This claim is baseless. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri has clearly stated in a press conference that India has only targeted terrorist infrastructure,' said another message.
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The unit, which functions under the Information & Broadcasting Ministry, said several Pakistan-based handles were circulating an old image claiming that a Pakistani missile had hit an Indian S-400. 'The image being shared is from 2023, of a fire at a military site in Moscow,' it said.
A video shared through Pakistan-based handles, claiming that the Pakistan Army had struck posts in the Battal sector of Jammu & Kashmir killing 12 Indian soldiers, was also found to be fake. The image used is from August 2011 and it was also reported in the media in 2016, the PIB unit said.
'An old video is being shared to show a Pakistani attack on an Indian military colony. This video is from Indonesia, dated May 6, 2025, and was recorded before #OperationSindoor was even launched,' the fact-checking unit said.
Quoting a previous PIB release and a news report, another post said: 'Pakistani social media accounts are recycling an old video and sharing it in the present context. The video is from an earlier incident from 2019, involving an Indian Air Force (IAF) Mi-17 V5 helicopter that crashed near Budgam, J&K.'
The unit also found that Pakistan-based handles were sharing an old image claiming that the Pakistan Army had intercepted a UAV that fell in Gujranwala, Pakistan. 'The image being circulated is from the Ukraine-Russia conflict in 2022,' it said, referring to a related news report.
Old videos falsely alleging strikes on a military base in Amritsar were detected by the team, while another video from September 2019 of the Pakistan Army waving a white flag at the Line of Control (LoC) to recover bodies of its dead soldiers was being shared by Pakistani handles with the false claim that it was the Indian Army taking back bodies of its soldiers, it said.
The unit fact-checked another video of a crash which claimed that Pakistan had shot down another Indian fighter plane. 'The video being shared is from February 2025 and depicts the crash of an Indian Air Force (IAF) Mirage 2000 aircraft near Shivpuri, Gwalior, which occurred during a routine training mission,' it said, highlighting the news report concerned.
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