The central government has flagged yet another instance of fake news pushed by Pakistan, this time involving a digitally altered image of a UK newspaper’s front page that falsely praised the Pakistan Air Force. The Press Information Bureau (PIB) said the image, circulated widely on social media, was AI-generated and never published by The Daily Telegraph.
The image, dated May 10, carried the headline: “Pakistan Air Force: The Undisputed King of the Skies.” The Press Information Bureau’s (PIB) Fact Check unit confirmed the image was digitally altered and not published by The Daily Telegraph.
What raised further alarm was the image being referenced by Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar during a statement in the country’s Senate on May 15. PIB flagged the move, saying that an official endorsement of a fabricated report “intentionally lent official weight to a piece of digital deception.”
This is not the first time Pakistan-linked accounts have been flagged by PIB. Earlier this week, the fact-checking body debunked another claim related to an alleged Indian Air Force (IAF) casualty during ‘Operation Sindoor’. Viral images suggested the last rites of a Rafale pilot were conducted after the reported mission. PIB clarified the image used was from 2008 and unrelated to any recent developments.