The Pakistan Democratic Front (PDM), a coalition of 11 Pakistani opposition parties, has been embroiled in fighting between the opposition and the government since and after an anti-government rally in Karachi. On the other hand, he was read from his Twitter account on Twitter at 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Four Pakistani soldiers and a sub-inspector of the Sindh Police were reportedly killed in a clash in Karachi. Unconfirmed reports indicate that tanks were found on the streets of Karachi.
An hour later, another letter from the same report read: “Heavy shootings from Karachi, Gulshan-e-Bagh district. The Pakistani army attempted to arrest the Sindh police chief, Muhammad Aftab.”
These tweets were shocking to users in Pakistan as they had nothing to do with reality, and in this regard, many users also complained to social media platforms that they were “fake news”.
But the trend didn’t stop and similar tweets from various accounts in India continued overnight.
Prashant Patel Amrao, an Indian Twitter user whose Twitter account has not only been “verified” and is the attorney for the Supreme Court of India on Twitter, wrote on several Twitter accounts: “Pakistan is at a civil war.” Several troops were killed. In clashes between police and troops. Prime Minister Imran Khan has ordered that the anthem be played on the radio and that the US Navy is expected to arrive at the port of Karachi.
Many people responded to Prashant Patel’s tweets with a joking exaggeration.
“I’m here in Karachi and we sent a signal to Batman all night but he didn’t come,” wrote one user, Makhosh. We were all so angry that Captain America suddenly helped us. Then we saw Batman fighting on the other side.
The same happened on Wednesday when several Indian news networks and news websites posted similar news and headlines about the “possibility of civil war in Pakistan”, saying that “the Pakistani army has destroyed all of Karachi. Police stations have been confiscated.
This includes Twitter accounts from Zee News, India Today, CNN18, and several others that have been verified on Twitter.
“These media don’t joke with journalism”
Controversy over “fake news” and “misinformation” on social media websites is not new, and a number of such cases have arisen, particularly in Pakistan and India, where “fake news” has been regularly posted on these platforms. It spread.
Regular users often like this tweet and are at the forefront of the “trolls”. However, when it comes to media houses and even those whose accounts are verified through Twitter, the situation can get worse. It can cause
In this regard, when asked by Hartosh Singh Bill, Political Editor of the prestigious Indian magazine Caravan, the BBC said, “In both countries there is media that does not make fun of journalism and it seems so.” The game.
If journalism in your own country is not neutral and follows the government agenda, then how can you expect it to be impartial to other countries?
On the other hand, an Indian journalist living in Delhi said anonymously that the current case is being processed by the computer of the ruling cell (Bharatiya Janata Party).
To users who commented on Twitter, he said, “If you look at them, it is clear that the fake news is from those who are affiliated with and support the ruling party.”
He added that such a false information campaign is not new and maybe this time someone in India would get the idea of creating a rift between the Pakistani army and police because it resembles the government statement that Pakistan is shrinking. He’s a victim.
When asked about journalistic values and editorial scrutiny, he said that most of the tweets came from television channels and did not specialize in fact-checking.
Suhant Sarin, an analyst at ORF in Delhi, spoke to BBC’s Niaz Farooq on Twitter and the news as “too exaggerated”. According to Sushant Sarin, the situation in Pakistan is “very, very far” from a situation similar to that of the civil war.
Former Indian Foreign Minister Vivek Katju said in an interview with Niaz Farooq of the BBC that the political situation in Pakistan was indeed shocked.
Pakistan’s position: (Indian media are subject to their government)
According to news and tweets on Twitter, the BBC said when it met Prime Minister Imran Khan’s chief of staff, Dr. Arsalan Khalid, asked: Is part of a propaganda campaign against Pakistan.
Dr. Arsalan Khalid criticized the social network Twitter, saying that elements in India are abusing the platform.
(Fake tweets propaganda are created from verified accounts.) This is very damaging to Twitter’s reputation and it seems that they are not following their own policies.
He said the Pakistani government contacted Twitter several times and raised concerns, but they were not heard.
(Given that India is using Twitter to spread lies against Pakistan, Pakistani government has right to take all legal and diplomatic measures to protect its interests.)
The BBC attempted to contact Twitter but received no response before the article was published.
However, when asked by the BBC about its investigation into fake news and disinformation on social media, journalist Rimsha Jahangir said that there are certainly many organized networks of this type in India. There are those who belong to BJP and help spread their narrative on various social media platforms.
Regarding Twitter’s guidelines, he said the “fake news” platform falls into the guideline violations category, but Twitter has done nothing to denounce the reports that violate those guidelines. Come here.
“This is a verified report, but Twitter has not deleted any fake news tweets that violate the policy,” Rishsha Jahangir quoted an example from a Prashant Patel report.
Social Media Response: “Karachi Gulshan Garden Civil War”
First of all, you should know that there is no area in Karachi called “Gulshan Garden”.
The peculiarity of Pakistani Twitter is that no matter what, the opportunity of satire and humor should not be missed and Pakistani users should wash their hands in the flow of amusement.
The same happened when Indian reports said a “clash between police and troops” at Karachi’s “Gulshan Garden”.
A user posted a photo from a Mazar-e-Quaid photoshop and tweeted, “Latest news, we have scenes from Karachi where the citizens of Karachi began to take part in the civil war and fight in the Pakistani Air Force. . ‘
Another user, Jane Doi, wrote, “Because no one started a fundraiser for the citizens trapped in Gulshan Gardens, they ran out of food and drink.”
Similarly, another journalist, Ahsan, tweeted a photo of the destroyed trees, stating that “the trees were destroyed after intense fighting in Gulshan Gardens”.
In addition to humor, serious comments are also made. Journalist and commentator Abbas Nasir took to Twitter to comment on Indian media news on Twitter, saying, “If the news in India is part of a fifth generation war that is always warned, all we have to do is laugh and brag.” There is no danger other than an explosion.
Analyst Michael Kigelman also tweeted that India’s disinformation users are trying to take advantage of the political crisis in Pakistan, but what they are doing is very dangerous.
When journalist Khuram Hussein addressed all of these issues on Twitter, he asked, “When will Twitter wake up?”
(If you look at the history of Pakistan, this is the first time since Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and his daughter Benazir that Pakistani political establishment should not interfere in the politics of army.)