KARACHI: In a twist dripping with irony, several Pakistani journalists, intellectuals, and influencers who pride themselves as “fake news busters” themselves fell prey to fake content — amplifying an AI-generated video falsely attributed to France 24 as if it were a legitimate investigative report.
🚨🇮🇱 ISRAELI NETWORK ACTIVATED AGAINST PAKISTAN!
Cyber intelligence has uncovered a highly misinformation campaign organized by Israel, with Indian and Afghan agents, currently targeting Pakistan.
They are attempting to undermine Pakistan’s mediation efforts. (France24 News) pic.twitter.com/LztEQQTetA
— Zard si Gana (@ZardSi) March 28, 2026
The video, which never appeared on France 24’s official X (formerly Twitter) timeline https://x.com/France24_en/media, was dressed up with slick graphics and captions in both Urdu and English, claiming that India and Afghanistan were running government-level fake X accounts to sabotage Pakistan’s diplomacy and peace efforts. In reality, the clip was conjured by artificial intelligence — a phantom report that simply did not exist.
Around 10 PM on Saturday night (March 28), the video went viral.
One of the earliest sharers was an account named *Waqas Mughal*, who breathlessly described it as a “cyber intelligence report” from France 24. Within hours, prominent Pakistani journalists and pro-Pakistan accounts — often quick to question the patriotism of dissenters — had amplified the fake clip, presenting it as gospel truth.
The irony deepened when a newly launched English-language channel, Pakistan TV, aired a similar AI-generated “report” in its bulletin. Complete with France 24-style logos and graphics, the broadcast offered no source, no journalist, and no investigation — just a fabricated façade packaged as international credibility.
For a community that often positions itself as guardians against misinformation, the episode was a spectacular self-own as the very voices that rail against “foreign propaganda” and “fake narratives” ended up championing a piece of synthetic fiction.
