June 15,2025: As Iran-Israel escalation intensify, a parallel war is unfolding across the digital battleground, this one targeting Pakistan through a stream of coordinated disinformation.

In the past 48 hours, false claims on social media and fringe OSINT accounts have wrongly implicated Pakistan as a participant in the conflict. Experts warn that these narratives, though baseless, deliberately coincide with broader regional developments.

Amidst Iran-Israel Escalation Fabricated Claims Gain Traction

Among the most prominent examples of disinformation currently in circulation:

Misattributed Statement by Defence Minister:

Social media users widely circulated a quote falsely attributed to Defence Minister Khawaja Asif. It allegedly claimed that Pakistan provided intelligence to Israel. However, the full context of his speech in Parliament makes it clear he was referring to unnamed third-party countries assisting Israel—not Pakistan itself.

False Claims of Iranian Aircraft in Balochistan:

Fact-checkers have widely debunked videos purporting to show Iranian fighter jets parked on Pakistani soil.

Fake Channel 14 Report on Nuclear Threats:

Social media posts falsely claimed that Israeli outlet Channel 14 reported a Pakistani nuclear threat against Israel. These claims have been confirmed as entirely fabricated. No such report has aired or been published.

Alleged Downing of Israeli F-35:

Claims that Pakistani forces shot down an Israeli F-35 over Iran were also circulated online without any verifiable evidence. No credible military or journalistic source has confirmed such an incident.

Following widespread fact-checking by digital sleuths and independent observers, social media platforms are now actively removing several of these fabricated claims. Once users flagged the misleading posts as false, community moderators either took them down or tagged them as misinformation.

Additionally, platforms have suspended or restricted multiple accounts responsible for spreading these narratives—some permanently—after users mass-reported them for violating community guidelines.

Cybersecurity analysts note that while these measures help curb virality, the speed and scale at which such disinformation spreads underscores the need for coordinated, real-time counter-narrative mechanisms.

Strategic Narrative or Random Noise?

Security analysts see a pattern in the timing and themes of the fake reports.

Analysts at Hindukush Tribune Network’s digital monitoring desk also note that some of the accounts pushing these stories have histories of posting anti-Pakistan content linked to India-based bot networks and previously flagged Israeli-affiliated digital outfits.

The Israel-India Playbook: Narrative First

This disinformation surge fits a broader pattern of narrative warfare, long attributed to Israeli and Indian information operations.

Digital watchdogs have reported bot networks, doctored visuals, and unverified claims amplified by OSINT actors with indirect ties to intelligence-linked fronts.

Israel’s history of narrative priming, including the use of psychological operations through media cutouts, is well known.

India’s digital amplification networks have similarly evolved into influence operations that aim to reshape perception in real time, often targeting Pakistan on issues ranging from Balochistan to China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Moreover, Mossad-linked entities like Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) and social media botnets are frequently used to inject propaganda dressed as research or OSINT.

The MEMRI-affiliated launch of a “Balochistan Studies” desk, featuring separatist maps and flagged personalities, was timed perfectly with Israel’s strikes on Iran, reinforcing suspicions of coordinated narrative warfare.

Cybersecurity observers argue that such psychological operations are part of a wider fifth-generation warfare framework. This doctrine typically seeks to delegitimize states that resist Western or allied military intervention, fragment regional solidarity, and construct plausible deniability through narrative scaffolding.

Disinformation as a Battlefield

The ongoing conflict has also reignited concerns about how modern wars are increasingly shaped by perception rather than battlefield realities.

“Digital propaganda is now a central pillar of fifth-generation warfare,” said Salman Javed, Director General South Asia Times (SAT). “The goal is not necessarily to convince, but to confuse, to create enough narrative fog that diplomatic, military, and civilian responses become fragmented.”

Pakistan’s Response: Restraint and Monitoring

While Pakistan’s official stance so far has been one of restraint, calls are growing for enhanced regional and multilateral coordination to monitor, debunk, and counter hostile information campaigns.

Some experts have proposed that the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) or Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) set up joint counter-disinformation units, particularly during wartime escalations, to prevent falsehoods from reshaping foreign policy calculus or triggering unintended confrontation.

Iran-Israel Escalation and The Bigger Picture

As the Iran-Israel conflict continues to evolve, so does the risk of narrative spillover. These fake stories aim not only to malign Pakistan but also to disrupt regional diplomacy and fracture alliances. They erode public trust and gradually test national red lines.

Pakistan faces a dual challenge: securing its borders and defending its narrative in a war where perception is the frontline

Also See : Israel-Iran Conflict Jeopardizes Adani, BJP’s West Asia Strategy