A senior executive at social media platform X has revealed that the platform recently uncovered a network of hacked accounts allegedly operated from Pakistan that were posting artificial intelligence–generated war videos under misleading identities.

Nikita Bier, Head of Product at X, said in a post on the platform that the company had identified a single individual in Pakistan managing 31 accounts that were uploading AI-generated war footage. According to him, the accounts had been compromised and their usernames changed on 27 February 2026 to variations of “Iran War Monitor.”

Last night, we found a guy in Pakistan that was managing 31 accounts posting AI war videos. All were hacked and the usernames were changed on Feb 27 to “Iran War Monitor” or some derivative.

We are getting much faster at detecting this—and also eliminating the incentive to do…

— Nikita Bier (@nikitabier) March 4, 2026

Bier stated that the platform’s security teams are becoming much faster at detecting such coordinated behaviour, adding that X is also working to eliminate the incentives behind these activities.

In 99% of cases, it’s just people looking to game monetization.

But to answer your question, yes we did a sweep of “IDF Girl” accounts that were run out of Pakistan recently.

The only thing they care about is what gets impressions—not the political leaning.

— Nikita Bier (@nikitabier) March 4, 2026

The discovery highlights the growing use of bot accounts and AI-generated content in online information campaigns, where networks attempt to generate viral engagement by posting sensational war-related footage.

Analysts say such tactics have increasingly become part of modern information warfare on social media, where bot networks and coordinated accounts are used to amplify narratives or manipulate public perception.

Observers in India noted that similar patterns of bot-driven content amplification had previously been reported during periods of heightened geopolitical tension, including narratives circulated during Operation Sindoor, where multiple accounts pushed coordinated videos and posts to influence online discussions.

The exposure of the alleged Pakistan-linked network highlights the broader challenge faced by social media platforms in identifying AI-generated propaganda and coordinated bot activity, particularly during major geopolitical events when misinformation spreads rapidly online.

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The post Pakistan-Based Bot Network Found To Be Posting Misleading AI Videos Of Israel Being By Iranian Missiles appeared first on The Commune.

A post by alleged fact-checker Mohammed Zubair on Wednesday, 4 December 2025, generated controversy after he highlighted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had “lost 4 million followers” on X, without initially noting that the platform is conducting a large-scale purge of inactive and bot accounts affecting users globally.

Zubair wrote that Modi “lost 4 million (bots) followers,” and seemed to ignore that this was also the same for other public figures.

According to figures cited in his own thread, several international personalities also saw significant drops:

• Barack Obama: 11 million
• Justin Bieber: 18 million
• Katy Perry: 19 million
• Virat Kohli: 2 million
• Arvind Kejriwal: 1.1 million

X has confirmed that the platform is removing “inactive old accounts” as part of a system-wide clean-up.

Almost everyone had follower drop in last few days.

Kejriwal lost at least 1.1 Million
Kohli- 2 Million
Obama- 11 Million
Justin Bieber- 18 Million
Katy Perry- 19 Million

X is removing inactive old accounts. https://t.co/vBcyPoOLG9 pic.twitter.com/jZCHFuETbH

— Ankur Singh (@iAnkurSingh) December 4, 2025

Post Selectively Framed?

Several social media users accused Zubair of presenting the information in a way that singled out Modi before acknowledging similar drops across the board.

Communications researchers noted that the sequencing of the post, leading with Modi’s follower drop and describing them as “bots”, could mislead readers into assuming that the loss was unique to the Prime Minister or indicative of inflated follower metrics, despite the identical phenomenon occurring globally.

Analysts pointed out that other leaders, celebrities and athletes experienced even larger reductions, illustrating that the purge was platform-wide, not targeted.

X’s Global Purge of Dormant Accounts

The follower drops follow X’s ongoing policy of removing inactive, duplicate and spam-linked accounts to improve platform integrity. The company has carried out similar purges several times over the years, with high-profile accounts often losing millions of followers overnight.

Digital media observers say such clean-ups have no bearing on the popularity or engagement of users and affect accounts uniformly.

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The post Alleged Fact-Checker Mohammed Zubair Targets PM Modi’s ‘4 Million Follower Drop’, Skips Massive Losses For Congress & AAP Leaders As X Purges Bot Accounts appeared first on The Commune.

Billionaire Elon Musk has announced his artificial intelligence company, xAI, has acquired social media platform X for an all-stock transaction of $33 billion.

The combination, which “values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion ($45B less $12B debt),” will “unlock the immense potential”

It will blend “xAI’s advanced AI capability and expertise with X’s massive reach”. X has more than 600 million active users.

Musk had in 2022, bought X — originally Twitter — for $44 billion. In the last two years, the platform “has been transformed into one of the most efficient companies in the world, positioning it to deliver scalable future growth”.

On the other hand, xAI, founded by Musk in March 2023, has rapidly become one of the leading AI labs in the world. It builds models and data centers at unprecedented speed and scale, said Musk, who also leads Tesla and SpaceX and serves as an adviser to President Donald Trump.

“Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution, and talent,” said Musk. He said the future if both xAI and X’s “are intertwined”, and “will deliver smarter, more meaningful experiences. The combination “will allow us to build a platform that doesn’t just reflect the world but actively accelerates human progress”.

Calling it “just the beginning”, Musk also lauded the “hardcore dedication” of the people in both companies. Meanwhile, Linda Yaccarino, X’s chief executive, wrote on X: “The future could not be brighter.”

Since Musk’s acquisition of Twitter in 2022, he made several changes to the company, including scrapping a free verified programme, introducing a paid membership and even changing the company’s name to X. However, X’s financial outlook has not seen much growth.

According to Fidelity, one of the investors that participated in Musk’s acquisition, X’s valuation plummeted to $12 billion in December, the New York Times reported. In contrast, xAI has grown rapidly. The AI start-up raised $6 billion from investors in December, valuing it at $35 billion to $40 billion, up from $24 billion in May.

–IANS

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The post AI Startup xAI Acquires X In $33bn Stock Deal: Elon Musk appeared first on The Commune.

The IT Ministry on Wednesday slammed Elon Musk-run social media platform X after more than 100 bomb threats were received by airlines over the past few days. Many of these hoaxes were circulated via social media platforms.

In a virtual meeting with representatives of airlines and social media platforms such as X and Meta, the IT Ministry officials said the situation amounts to “X abetting crime” and questioned its representatives on the steps taken to stop such alarming rumours from spreading.

According to reports, Joint Secretary, IT, Sanket S Bhondve chaired the virtual meeting.

The online threats created panic among the passengers and set off alarm bells for security agencies. Several flights, including internationals, were diverted after the hoax calls. Over the past few days, more than 120 flights operated by Indian carriers have received bomb threats. On Tuesday, 30 flights operated by IndiGo, Vistara, and Air India received such threats.

Union Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said on Monday that those circulating such hoax threats will face tough action, including being put on a no-fly list. The government plans to amend the ‘Suppression of Unlawful Acts’ against the ‘Safety of Civil Aviation Act’ to initiate action for offences when an aircraft is on the ground.

Currently, the aviation security norms primarily cover in-flight offences.

“We are trying to make amendments, and the legal team has worked on them. We need consultations with other ministries also. We are definitely pushing forward to have changes in the Act to address offences that happen when the flight is on the ground and make it a cognisable offence,” the minister said.

After the hoax calls, the airlines followed standard operating procedures towards the safety of the passengers. Last week, an Air India flight from Mumbai to New York was diverted mid-air to Delhi following a bomb threat.

–IANS

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The post Centre Slams X for ‘Abetting Crime’ After 100 Flight Bomb Threats appeared first on The Commune.

On 27 January 2024, an article appeared in The Hindu newspaper titled, ‘Blocking of Hindutva Watch and prevalence of social media censorship in India‘ penned by the senior sub-editor of the newspaper, Aaratrika Bhaumik. The article discusses how X, a social media platform, has complied with the Indian government’s orders to block accounts and tweets that are critical of its policies or actions. The article also explains the provisions of the Information Technology Act and the Rules that empower the government to issue blocking orders, and the lack of transparency and due process in the censorship regime. It highlights the cases of Hindutva Watch, Saurav Das, Tanul Thakur and others who have faced censorship on X and the implications for their work and expression. In retaliation to the claims made in the article, an X user, going by the username @thehawkeyex posted a rebuttal thread pointing out how the Hindutva Watch (HW) handle had spread fake news and misinformation freely.

As X takes down the account of Hindutva Watch, an organisation that documents hate crimes against marginalised groups — what are the transparency concerns regarding India’s censorship regime for digital platforms? @Aaratrika_11 writes https://t.co/WDJZwE0Hwz

— The Hindu (@the_hindu) January 27, 2024

On 22 May 2023, the HW handle posted on X said an old mosque was demolished by the Gujarat administration at Dahod, Junagadh for a smart city project. However, the post fails to mention that four old temples were also demolished along with the mosque to make way for the project. Additionally, the masjid also failed to produce necessary land documents in the court for proof of ownership.

Misleading news. It was an encroachment drive where 4 tamples were also removed not just one mosque.

2/ pic.twitter.com/lPuLsl7FB8

— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) January 30, 2024

On 20 Feb 2024, the HW handle posted an ‘untold story of Jammu massacre’ which claimed 6,00,000 Muslims were murdered in 7 days. However, the photo used for the story was that of the aftermath of devastating riots in Kolkata that happened in 1946.

FAKE Image and incorrect data: This is Kolkata DAD 1946, not Jammu.

3/ pic.twitter.com/wENYq47QQN

— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) January 30, 2024

In October 2023, the HW website reported a story stating, ‘Jeevan Jyoti church demolished citing “illegal construction on government land”’. However, the truth was far from it. The demolition was a planned removal drive with prior notice given to the church administration. Despite this, the government team was attacked by goons.

MISLEADING NEWS: This was an official encroachment removal drive with due notice and the govt team was attacked by the goons.

4/ pic.twitter.com/QTt7kynLJc

— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) January 30, 2024

In September 2023, the HW website again posted misleading news stating that in Uttarakhand a Muslim youth was beaten, head shaved, and face blacked for an alleged interfaith relationship. The truth in this case was the man was accused of rape and hence the punishment was given to him by the community.

MISLEADING NEWS: This is with no communal angle in it. He was a r@pe accused and beaten by angry people.

HW conveniently skips putting the entire story only the peddle fake narrative.

5/ pic.twitter.com/gF2IVE0aEF

— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) January 30, 2024

In December 2022, the X handle of HW again posted fake news stating that Muslim residents in the Gulmohar colony in Ujjain, UP were asked to vacate to give way for the Kumbh Mela festival to be held in 2028. However, the truth in this case was that the government has been requesting the people to vacate for a long time for multiple road expansion projects which included three Hindu colonies as well.

MISLEADING NEWS: The area is being asked to vacate for the expansion of roads and this includes THREE Hindu resident colonies as well. But HW didn't mention it. Govt has been making this request for many years.

6/ pic.twitter.com/vm2fRdkc9E

— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) January 30, 2024

D-Intent data, a news data research organisation focuses on neutral fact checking and intent analysis, has flagged fifteen ‘news articles’ posted by HW as fake/misleading news articles.

FAKE NEWS : These are 15 Fact Check articles by @dintentdata . All news has Hindutva Watch in common as a fake news spreader.

How many? FIVTEEN.

7/ pic.twitter.com/KwZWezu0hW

— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) January 30, 2024

In June 2023, the HW website was booked by the Maharashtra police for, ‘spreading fake news, defaming Hindus, and inciting mob’ during Kolhapur violence.

This persistent fake narrative has a larger impact on society that's reflected in every stone pelting and riots.

The portal was also booked for inciting mob through fake news.

Did you mention this in your article @Aaratrika_11 ?@the_hindu
8/ pic.twitter.com/Cn5yagXV4k

— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) January 30, 2024

The user also alleges that the HW founder is a Kashmiri separatist named, Raquib Hamid Naik residing in the USA and colludes with Pakistanis. The technical backend of the site is managed by Adil Kayani who ran a “free Kashmir” campaign and also runs a propaganda website for setting anti-India narratives and secessionist ideologies.

Now let's look into the profile of Hindutva Watch founder, a Kashmiri separatist Raqib Hamid Naik.

Read this linkage report by @DisinfoLab .

Naik, now fled to USA, colludes with Pakistan stooges who are sworn enemies of India.

11/ pic.twitter.com/ygLBgACT7m

— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) January 30, 2024

The user further alleges that the co-founder Naik was working as director for the Two Circles Network (TCN) which was founded by Kashif Ul Huda, a terrorist organisation SIMI and Zakir Naik sympathizer.

Do you know the founder of Hindutva Watch portal, Naik, was working with TwoCircles (TCN) and later became its director? TCN was founded by Kashif Ul Huda, a terrorist org SIMI and Zakir Naik sympathizer.

Kashif dreams about breaking India day & night.

14/ pic.twitter.com/nfC0AZv91Z

— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) January 30, 2024

Furthermore, there was a similar-named HW account on Reddit, which was banned due to hate content policy violation.

This is my old finding. There was an account on Reddit named 'HindutvaWatch' which is now banned due to hate content policy violation. No wonder who used to run it. Don't miss his views of India, Pakistan and J!had.

16/ pic.twitter.com/D5kc4q47Hq

— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) January 30, 2024

(With inputs from The Hawk Eye)

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The post How ‘The Hindu’ Supported Fake News & Misinfo Spreader Account Hindutva Watch After X Took Down The Account appeared first on The Commune.