Misinformation and memes run amok amidst Pak-Afghan conflict – Prism

As reports of a military confrontation emerge, newsrooms brace for sleepless nights, social media explodes with all sorts of “information” and memes (the latter being specific to Pakistan), and fact-checkers know they will have their hands full in the coming days.

The latest clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which began on Thursday night and continued into the early hours of Saturday, were no different.

In the first 12 hours, iVerify Pakistan’s fact-checking team had detected more than a dozen claims circulating on social media, ranging from names of Taliban commanders allegedly killed and images of Pakistani planes crashing to images of chaos following an attack on the Kakul military academy and soldiers from both sides allegedly captured. Local journalists and social media commentators contributed to this cycle of misinformation and disinformation, along with propaganda accounts from India and Afghanistan.

When war becomes content

Amid the overnight action on Thursday, as Pakistan launched “Operation Ghazab lil-Haq” and both sides reported mounting damage inflicted on each other, the UK government News from heaven published a news bulletin in which the presenter says: “…military authorities in Afghanistan say they have begun carrying out airstrikes against Pakistan.”

The clip, which was posted on

But as mentioned above, Pakistani memes are always ready; Scrolling through

That Pakistanis turn to humor in moments of crisis, from cricket to war, is not new information – and we are certainly exceptionally good at it – but that we do so as an immediate reaction to a situation that could lead to more civilian casualties on both sides is a concern worth reflecting on. For netizens in a country all too familiar with turmoil, humor may be a somewhat natural coping mechanism, as seen in this article from the India-Pakistan meme war of 2025, but when it comes at the expense of those living in your own country, you know it is no longer harmless.

To elaborate, the Prime Minister’s media coordinator Badar Shahbaz shared at 3:13 am on Friday night a video of a group of people with the caption: “Youth of Pakistan expressing their feelings for their armed forces in the wake of the situation in Afghanistan. Pakistan Hamesha Zindabad.”

Six minutes later, at 3:19 am, while providing important updates on the skirmishes, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar – or his team – shared it again with this caption: “The youth of Pakistan have a clear sense of patriotism; they find humor in every situation.”

Laughter that reaches the vulnerable

Leaving aside the fact that the government co-opted the nation’s tried and tested coping mechanism, let’s talk about how they didn’t even get it right. The video shows a group of men and women, and one person says phrases like: “Are you Afghan and are you going to attack Pakistan?” and a young woman appears to say: “Acha hee”, which can only be translated as “oh, really.” One could have ignored the cringe-inducing script, but not when one of the lines reads: “Apart from executing tandoorsDo you also fight wars?

The line perpetuates stereotypes, disregards the livelihoods of many and brings war within our own borders. As of December 2025, according to UNHCR, 1,021,562 registered Afghan refugees live in Pakistan. This figure comes after the Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Scheme, which began in November 2023 and did not exempt even those with proper documentation, such as Proof of Registration (PoR) cards, or those born in Pakistan.

This publication has already addressed the failings of the repatriation policy in many articles, including this one by former MP Ghazan Jamal, so I won’t delve into that here. However, I will emphasize that Pakistan has witnessed multiple waves of Afghan refugee influx, spanning the period from the Soviet Union’s invasion in 1979 to the Taliban’s reconquest of Afghanistan in 2021.

Over the years, millions of Afghans have lived in Pakistan and become part of its society. He “tandoor“Referred to so disparagingly in this video, is available and appreciated throughout the country. You will find a restaurant called afghan tandoor, or some version of it, in most of our major cities. Our capital has the best Afghan cuisine. Whether these establishments are run by or employ Afghans is a debatable question; the video reduces them to “tandoor walas” without taking into account the insults and racist comments that already exist in our society.

From being linked to rising waves of crime and violence without clear data to being labeled as “ragged Afghan refugees” who are perceived as a burden on the government (regardless of their education and economic background), Afghans in Pakistan have struggled for acceptance in Pakistan for decades.

On its own, this video (and particularly this line) is in poor taste; but when it is backed by government officials and lumped in with patriotism, it becomes extremely problematic and poses a danger to a community that has made Pakistan its home.

Our government would be among the first – and rightly so – to talk about the safety of immigrants of Pakistani origin in other countries when they are attacked. For example, back in January 2025, Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) condemned “increasingly racist and Islamophobic” comments directed at Pakistanis in the UK following the disturbing revelations of the Rochdale grooming gang. Most of the perpetrators were in fact British-Pakistani, but as the FO noted, “increasingly racist and Islamophobic political and media commentary in the UK… aimed at conflating the reprehensible actions of a few individuals with the entire British diaspora of 1.7 million Pakistanis” was deeply worrying.

So shouldn’t the same principles apply to the people who live next to us?

In military escalations, it is a fact that misinformation and mockery can run amok, but is one more dangerous than the other?

The answer is that they can overlap and cause even more damage when combined.

What is at stake in the discourse in the escalation of tensions

When we talk about false information, there is a third category apart from disinformation (spreading inaccurate information) and disinformation (deliberately spreading inaccurate information): disinformation. This refers to information that is based on the truth (although it may be exaggerated or presented out of context) but that is shared with the intention of attacking an idea, individual, organization, group, country or other entity.

This is the trickiest category for fact-checkers, as is hate speech, which often falls into it, as you can’t always verify social commentary or provide evidence (something fact-checking is supposed to do) to demonstrate the extent to which a notion is absurd and harmful. As identified in iVerify’s report, based on claims data it reviewed over two years, these narratives exploit historical grievances, deepen mistrust, and pose tangible risks to social cohesion and public safety.

Comments under both government officials’ posts show many people criticizing the crudeness of the video. But, lest they (or I) be branded anti-state for criticizing it, they are not unpatriotic; Pakistanis believe that the country has every right to resolutely defend itself and ensure that no armed actors violate its territory. However, we also expect better from our leaders, who represent everyone living in the country, regardless of their background, and are tasked with ensuring their safety.

In situations of conflict and battle, nationalism and emotions are at their peak, so the words and actions of leaders have even greater weight and implications. Leave the humor to the people; Keep your attention on the facts.