Operation Sindoor: Fake vs Real

May 10, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

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Hello,

Following the launch of Operation Sindoor by the Indian Armed Forces, we're noticing a lot of old, fake, and unrelated content being shared online. This is a special edition where I take you through what’s keeping BOOM’s fact-checking team on their toes and how you can verify viral claims on your own. Read on!

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After over six years of being in the fact-checking space, I still wonder how and why a random social media post with no official source mentioned gets ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ to an extent that it comes under the ‘viral’ banner. 

In no particular order: A message comes on WhatsApp ➡️ Gets circulated on X ➡️ People post it on their Instagram stories ➡️ Enough to make it go viral ➡️ Mainstream media picks it up (most of the times)

This is exactly what BOOM’s fact-checking team has been noticing and working round the clock to debunk online mis/disinformation related to #OperationSindoor.

Exhibit A: Video of Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) of the Pakistan Armed Forces, admitting to losing two fighter jets.

Fact: Professor Hany Farid, a forensic expert in synthetic media at UC Berkeley confirmed to BOOM the viral clip is a deepfake; with the voice AI generated and lip movements not in sync.

Exhibit B: Video shows the destruction of Karachi Port by Indian Naval Ship Vikrant in ongoing military escalations between India and Pakistan. 

Fact: BOOM found that it’s an old video and reached out to the Karachi Port Trust who denied that it’s from Karachi. We traced the video to a crash that took place in Philadelphia on 31 January 2025. 

Exhibit C: A viral photo shows a Pakistani pilot captured by the Indian Army.

Fact: BOOM found that the image is from 12 December 2016, when a Turkish F-16 fighter jet crashed near an airport in the city of Diyarbakir.

Exhibit D: A viral video circulating on social media and shared by major news outlets shows India’s airstrikes on Pakistan under ‘Operation Sindoor.’

Fact: BOOM found that the viral footage actually shows Israeli airstrikes on Gaza from October 2023, and is unrelated to the current India-Pakistan conflict.

You can read BOOM’s fact-checks on Operation Sindoor here.

The Rush to Go LIVE: How News Channels Prioritised Speed Over Accuracy

Indian media outlets went on a real time misreporting spree as India and Pakistan hurled missiles at each other late on 8 May. 

Blaring sounds of sirens and computer generated videos of explosions all over the screen, news channels aired entirely false claims of India destroying Karachi Port, attacking Lahore, capturing Islamabad and forcing the Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to surrender, adding an internal military coup to the mix. 

Sometime before Thursday midnight, mainstream news channels had also declared that India had destroyed Pakistan and taken over their neighbour—all on live TV.

DO-IT-YOURSELF

#DIY: Your Quick Verification Guide

Generally, several people receive that viral fake claim, some believe and ‘forward’ it. However, fact-checks don’t travel at the same pace. This creates a lag. 

Also, the verification process takes time. But, you don’t always have to wait for a fact-check to be published. You can verify on your own too.

Some claims are complex and require using online verification tools. Save this guide:

  • Image Verification: See where else this image has appeared online. Use Google Lens, Yandex, TinEye, etc

  • Video Verification: Install InVid WeVerify Plugin extension to your Chrome browsers and break the video into several keyframes and then perform a reverse image search.

  • Archiving: Archive/save online links or search for already archived links on archive.is/ Wayback machine/ ghost archive.

  • AI/Deepfake detection tools: Use Hive AI Detector, AI or Not, Hiya (for deepfake voice detection)

  • Advanced searches: Perform extensive localised and customised search using Facebook filters, Twitter advanced search, Google advanced search for image/ video/ text.

FACTS MATTER

Getting It Right » Getting It First

Nothing will happen if one random unverified post doesn’t go viral but if ‘fake news’ is ‘forwarded’ inadvertently, it can have consequences. Sometimes, real life impact too. 

TL;DR:

  • Don’t share if you aren’t sure whether the claim is true or not.

  • Remember: Fact-checking helps you make informed opinions.

  • Once you strongly feel about a particular topic, and later if someone disputes it with tangible evidence, even then it’s difficult to alter your belief system. 

  • Ensure that you consume information from trusted, verified and official sources. 

Verify with BOOM: Spot a claim or want us to verify anything suspicious? Send it on BOOM’s WhatsApp tipline number: 7700906588.

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🅱️ RECOMMENDS

This week's recommendation is: The Psychology of Fake News

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Verified By Boom is written by Divya Chandra, edited by Adrija Bose and designed by H Shiva Roy Chowdhury.

If you have suggestions about this newsletter or want us to conduct workshops on specific topics, drop us a line at 👉 [email protected] and we will get back to you in a jiffy. Thanks for reading. See you next week.👋

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