Alt News’ Zubair gets unexpected support from right-wing to debunk Pakistani fake news
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As social media was flooded with unverified visuals following India’s military retaliation to the Pahalgam terror attack—dubbed ‘Operation Sindoor’—Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair exposed several viral videos that were falsely claimed to be from the India-Pakistan conflict, but were in fact from the Israel-Gaza war.
Zubair, who is known for his meticulous fact-checking, debunked numerous images and videos that had been repurposed by social media users to stir misinformation in the wake of the tense geopolitical situation.
Several of the viral visuals, which were being circulated online with claims of depicting Pakistani cities struck by the Indian military, were traced back by Zubair and his team to previous conflicts in the Middle East. Despite the chaos, Zubair continued fact-checking claims made by both Indian and Pakistani users, ensuring that misinformation did not further inflame public sentiment.
Meanwhile, confusion deepened after reports emerged of an unidentified aircraft crash in Aklian Kalan village in Punjab’s Bathinda on the night of May 6 and 7. Old and unrelated videos were shared across platforms, with some users claiming they showed the crash site, but Zubair revealed that several of them were either computer-generated simulations or outdated visuals from past incidents in Pakistan.
In another instance, Zubair identified a network of Pakistani accounts that were impersonating Indian Army personnel and spreading communal hatred. These accounts, some of which were amplified by Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir, were also engaged with by Indian political figures like BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who later acknowledged the deception after being alerted by Zubair.
Zubair’s work, widely shared and even appreciated by those who had previously targeted him, played a key role in curbing online propaganda during a highly sensitive period. One X user noted that Zubair’s timely intervention helped many Indians, including political leaders, recognise and avoid being misled by fake handles pushing hostile narratives from across the border.