NEW DELHI: A deeper forensic lab analysis has revealed that Pakistan made a concerted online attempt to spread false narratives against India during Operation Sindoor, with most of the social media handles found to be Pakistan-based and apparently linked to the country’s armed forces and the ISI, officials said on Tuesday.
The forensic report was shared with central agencies, leading to a ban on several social media accounts belonging to Pakistan-based celebrities and some foreign nationals, they said.
Providing details of the analysis, officials said a “sizeable number” of these accounts disseminated identical or near-identical messaging in a well-coordinated manner. Cyber labs found the content was posted within a span of 30 to 40 minutes, with average engagement exceeding one million.
Officials noted that the posts, which carried a distinct “anti-India” tone and uniform messaging, were widely amplified—indicating centrally orchestrated information warfare.
“Initially, around 2,000 and, later, 2,300 additional social media accounts were suspended followed by further action,” one official said, adding that all these handles, directly or indirectly operated by the Pakistan Army and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), created and fuelled the “anti-India” campaign with fake content.
In the report, another official said, “The character, tone and timing of the content suggest the intent to amplify anti-India narratives. The messaging was uniform, suggesting possible centralised coordination.”
“Pakistan agencies facilitated and fuelled the propaganda, shared by alleged Pakistan-based news portals, further amplified by high-engagement accounts on various social media platforms, including Instagram, 'X' , YouTube, and Facebook,” the official added.
Officials said the timing of the disinformation posts was mainly between 6 pm and 11 pm, aimed at garnering maximum engagement across social media platforms.
“The analysis also revealed that individuals in the age group of 25 to 40 were the most active users in spreading ‘anti-India’ fake content. Some accounts were found to be circulating AI-generated and fake audio/video messages on various social media platforms,” the official added.