National News

Pakistan’s Own Newspaper Fact Checks Deputy PM For Quoting Fake AI-Generated UK News Praising Air Force As ‘Undisputed King Of The Skies’

May 16, 2025
The Commune

In an address to the Senate, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar cited what he believed was praise from the UK-based The Daily Telegraph, claiming the paper had described the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) as the “undisputed king of the skies.” However, the page he quoted from turned out to be fake AI picture widely circulated on social media.

The viral image, which began spreading around 10 May, purportedly showed a front page of The Daily Telegraph celebrating the PAF’s performance amid recent tensions with India. But a thorough investigation by Dawn newspaper’s iVerify Pakistan team debunked the claim. The team used verification tools to search the British publication’s official archives and found no such article existed.

Dawn pointed out several red flags in the supposed newspaper image: spelling mistakes such as “Fyaw” instead of “Force,” “preformance” in place of “performance,” and phrases like “Aur Force” and “advancemend,” none of which align with the editorial standards of a reputable outlet like The Daily Telegraph. Additionally, the page’s layout did not match the typical design used by the British paper.

The image was not only proven fake by Dawn but also widely condemned by Pakistani journalists and fact-checkers. Journalist Imran Mukhtar from The Nation criticized Dar’s use of the false report in Parliament, stating that while the PAF may have had strong moments, the image was clearly fabricated. Another user on X (formerly Twitter), Abdul Wasey Naik, noted that many respected journalists had unknowingly shared the AI-generated image, assuming it to be genuine.

The incident comes in the wake of India’s recent Operation Sindoor, which targeted terrorist sites in Pakistan. In response, Pakistani state-linked accounts have ramped up disinformation efforts, circulating old visuals, doctored videos, and entirely made-up narratives in an apparent attempt to counter the operation’s impact and sway public perception.

This episode reflects a broader tactic in digital information warfare—flooding platforms with misleading or fake content to confuse audiences and manipulate narratives, making it increasingly difficult to discern fact from fiction..

(With Inputs From ANI)

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