AI-Powered Disinformation Campaign Targets India After Pahalgam Attack

A network of X accounts (mostly traced to Pakistan) has been circulating AI-generated deepfakes, voice-cloned videos, fabricated quotes and fake news articles to manipulate public discourse and undermine trust in India’s military, leadership and media.

Fact-checkers, including BOOM, have flagged over 30 AI-altered videos since the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor. One such clip falsely showed Air Chief Marshal AP Singh criticising the government after the Tejas crash at the Dubai Air Show.

The campaign has sought to exploit national crises, fuel religious and caste tensions and inflame sensitive regions like Manipur and Ladakh. India requested X to withhold accounts such as @InsiderWB, @Baba_Thoka, @Hawkss_eye and @abubakarqassam.

Many fake profiles posed as Indian users but were exposed by metadata placing them in Pakistan. Top defence officials were prime targets, with deepfakes falsely suggesting statements on China, communalism, casualty figures and military capability.

One viral clip even claimed General Upendra Dwivedi said the Army would cut non-Hindu soldiers by 50% by 2028. Raina, head of the Deepfakes Analysis Unit (DAU) of the Trusted Information Alliance, in India, noted signs of AI manipulation in cloned voices, distorted insignia, and altered name tags.

Another false claim alleged that Ladakhi climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who is currently detained under the National Security Act in a Jodhpur jail, had died in police custody — a rumour his wife swiftly debunked.

The operation also targeted Indian politics, spreading fake allegations against Bihar’s NDA leaders using deepfakes of journalists like Ravish Kumar and Palki Sharma.