The ministries of Information Technology and Information & Broadcasting are “constantly monitoring” social media platforms for misleading content related to Operation Sindoor and have asked these platforms to block any unlawful material, a senior government official told The Indian Express.
Agencies and organisations in charge of critical infrastructure, such as the Power Ministry, financial institutions including banks, and telecom operators are also on “high alert” after having faced a number of cyber attacks following the Pahalgam terror attack last month. “There have been some DDoS attacks on some infrastructure, but we have contained them. Now we are on high alert because such attempts will certainly be made,” the official said.
A DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack is a cyberattack where an attacker overwhelms a website, server, or network with malicious traffic from multiple sources, making it slow or inaccessible to legitimate users.
On Wednesday afternoon, during a meeting between officials from the two ministries, there was an acknowledgement that social media platforms such as X were flooded with misinformation related to India’s strikes on nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
It was decided that since the situation was evolving with people making varied claims online, the government would have to closely monitor such content, and also dip into its legal arsenal to limit their spread.
From the early hours of Wednesday, social media platforms became the battleground for online disinformation campaigns — from visuals of unrelated strikes to footage from video games.
Visuals of a crashed aircraft were also circulating online with the claim that Pakistan shot down an Indian Rafale jet. The Press Information Bureau’s (PIB’s) fact check unit has clarified that these were old visuals. The unit has also fact-checked other viral claims related to the airstrikes.
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The government has advised users of social media platforms to exercise restraint. “Don’t trust and share unverified information. Check official sources from the Government of India for accurate information,” the IT Ministry said in multiple posts on X.
After the Pahalgam terror attack, the government had banned 16 Pakistani YouTube channels, including some leading channels such as Dawn News, Samaa TV, Ary News, and Geo News for disseminating communally sensitive content and false narratives.
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