From TV Channels to Social Media: How Fake News About Op Sindoor Was Shared

While armed forces were battling on ground, online users were battling with misinformation about Op Sindoor online.

Social media and mainstream news channels went abuzz with information which also included a lot of unverified claims about Operation Sindoor.

(Photo: The Quint/Kamran Akhter)

From labelling an Indian school teacher a terrorist to false and exaggerated claims of Indian forces attacking civilian areas in Pakistan, television channels and social media users engaged in spreading a huge amount of mis and disinformation last week when India and Pakistan were in active conflict. The Quint's WebQoof team debunked over 70 fact-check stories in a week since Operation Sindoor began on 7 May.

While this has been a common phenomenon during times of crisis, the involvement of TV news channel in spreading misinformation and unfounded claims increased during Operation Sindoor. Sensational headlines, fabricated visuals, exaggerated claims, and unrelated visuals were all a part of their prime-time bulletins.

While people do fall for misinformation from anonymous social media accounts, false claims spread by mainstream media channels and journalists with lakhs of viewership reaches a larger group of people and creates unnecessary panic.

'Prime Time' Became Prime Source of Misinformation

Let's take a look at this claim, "Maulana Mohammad Iqbal, a Pakistani terrorist was killed by the Indian Forces", which was shared by ABP News, News18, and Zee News along with an image of a Muslim man.

When WebQoof team debunked it, we found out that these claims are false. The man in the visuals lost his life due to cross-border shelling by Pakistan. Moreover, he was an Indian national and a teacher in the local Madrasa, not a Pakistani terrorist as claimed.

(Source: screenshot)

News18 Hindi also shared this claim.

This was followed by more false claims creating panic among citizens, which included claims about explosions at Jaipur Airport by Times Now and Pakistan's attack on Jaisalmer which was shared by NDTV, India TV, Times Now Navbharat, ABP News.

The barrage of misinformation doesn't end here, Zee News, News18, News18 Madhya Pradesh, Sudarshan News went on to 'report' that Pakistan’s capital Islamabad has already been captured and that the army had surrendered. Times Now Navabharat, too, reported the Indian Army had entered Pakistan.

(Source: Screenshot)

(Source: Screenshot)

(Source: Screenshot)

(Source: Screenshot)

(Source: Screenshot)

More fact-checks about media outlets running fake news regarding Operation Sindoor can be read here, here and here.

This dissemination of misinformation on news channels and online platforms has sparked public outrage while raising concerns about media ethics, accountability and the growing trend of prioritising TRP ratings over journalistic integrity.

Along with that, we also noticed several "source-based" stories being run on TV channels as facts, without providing any evidence to back them. A lot of these claims were later found to be incorrect, however, they are almost always impossible to fact-check due to the ambiguous nature of the claims.

As the former senior managing editor of NDTV, Aunindyo Chakravarty, writes for The Quint, "Over the past few years, editorial processes have collapsed in a large number of mainstream newsrooms. This is especially true for TV news channels. That is why, we have an endless stream of questionable source-based news being broadcast 24x7."

Two Sides of the Border, Same Playbook

Major Pakistani news outlets also shared some misinformation during these testing times.

On 9 May, the Information & Broadcasting Ministry also accused the Pakistani media of “misleading their audience”. The Ministry specified how Pakistani media alleged Indian Forces attacking civilian areas, however, the Ministry provided footage proving that their targets were terror camps.

Daily Times, an online website for a Pakistani newspaper shared old visuals on crashed fighter jets to claim that Pakistan Air Force (PAF) struck down two Indian fighter jets in "retaliation".

However, these visuals were from 2021 and 2024, both unrelated to Pakistan.

(Source: DT/Screenshot)

Another Pakistani news channel, Aik Talkshawk, also claimed that PAF has "attacked and destroyed" Udhampur airbase.

However, the Indian government refuted claims of any kind of damage to the Udhampur airbase in Jammu. On 10 May, the Ministry of External Affairs clarified more claims made by Pakistan including:

"Pakistan has also attempted to execute a continued malicious misinformation campaign with claims of destruction of Indian S-400 system at Adampur, destruction of airfields at Suratgarh and Sirsa, BrahMos base at Nagrota, RT gun positions at Dehrangyari and Chandigarh Forward Ammunition Depot; with heavy damages to other military stations being propagated on social media. India unequivocally rejects these false narratives being spread by Pakistan," said IAF's Wing Commander Vyomika Singh.

Fact-Checking Complements Community Notes

While the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) saw an unbridled flow of disinformation, a lot of users came together to label such posts and add the needed context using the help of the 'community notes' feature.

Sample this - An X premium subscriber named '@MithilaWaala' shared a clip insinuating that it showed India's automatic radar attacks against Pakistan. A different version of this clip said that it showed Pakistan's attack against India.

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

The above post had gained around 1.5 million views on the platform. However, several users were quick to point out that the video was actually created using a video game simulation and did not carry real visuals.

Here's another example. Multiple Pakistan-linked X accounts shared a video that showed fire breaking out at an area as recent visuals from Gujarat following a supposed Pakistani attack.

You can view an archive here.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

As one can imagine, the video was old and unrelated. Using the 'community notes' feature, several users tagged the post adding the context and identifying the real location as Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Fact-checking organisations, including The Quint's WebQoof, debunked the viral claim. The full context about the incident dating back to July 2021 and being unrelated to India was further added.

The report was published on 10 May 2025.

(Source: The Quint/Screenshot)

The collaborative approach was a welcome one and something that fact-checkers across the globe emphasised in January of this year.

In its open letter to Meta, the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) had said, " A Community Notes model that works in collaboration with professional fact-checking would have strong potential as a new model for promoting accurate information. The need for this is great: If people believe social media platforms are full of scams and hoaxes, they won’t want to spend time there or do business on them."

A recent study published by Tattle, which explored the role of fact-checking websites in community notes, found that fact-checkers were heavily cited in them, with The Quint's WebQoof coming at number five among all the Indian IFCN signatories.

The past few days have reiterated the importance of fact-checking and media literacy in the society.

While media channels were running unverified and unsupported claims on their channels, the government, fact-checkers, and several people on the internet were working together to ensure that only the truth reached the common public.