PIB Fact Check Debunks Fake Daily Telegraph Report Circulated by Pakistan

NEW DELHI:
The central government has exposed yet another instance of fake news being circulated by Pakistan on social media — this time involving a fabricated front page of a reputed British daily.

According to a fact-check issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), an image making the rounds on various social media platforms purportedly shows the front page of the UK-based ‘The Daily Telegraph’, dated May 10.

The headline reads: “Pakistan Air Force: The Undisputed King of the Skies.” However, the PIB has confirmed that the image is entirely fake and AI-generated.

“An image circulating on social media claims to show the front page of UK-based newspaper The Daily Telegraph, featuring a headline that reads: “Pakistan Air Force: The undisputed king of the skies” dated 10th May 2025 “, is fake,” the PIB Fact Check team stated in a post.

What has raised further concern is that the fake image was not only circulated online but also cited by Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar during a statement to the country’s Senate on Thursday.

In a follow-up post, the PIB said: “This #fake claim was further amplified by Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar during his statement to the Senate on 15 May 2025. By endorsing a completely fabricated image and headline, #Pakistan intentionally lent official weight to a piece of digital deception.”

Earlier, the PIB fact-check team dismissed a viral social media claim suggesting that the last rites of an Indian Air Force (IAF) Rafale pilot were conducted following alleged casualties during ‘Operation Sindoor’.

PIB flagged multiple Pakistan-based accounts that circulated old images, claiming they depicted the funeral of a Rafale pilot who supposedly died on May 7. The PIB clarified that the image is from 2008 and has no connection to recent events.

The incident highlights the increasing use of AI-generated misinformation in geopolitical narratives and the role of official channels in either checking or amplifying such content.