Misinformation in 2025: Politics, Conflict and AI Reshape India’s Information Landscape

From the grand Mahakumbh in January to the tragic Pahalgam terror attack, and later the tense escalation with Pakistan – all unfolding alongside high-stakes Delhi and Bihar elections – 2025 was a year that rarely paused for breath.

Amid this constant churn of news and breaking updates, misinformation quietly found its sweet spot. Misleading posts and alarmist claims flooded social media, spreading faster than verified facts and shaping public opinion before the truth could catch up.

Between January and mid-December 2025, Newschecker analyzed over 3,100 claims across ten languages – Hindi, English, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali, Punjabi, Urdu and Gujarati. This extensive dataset revealed clear patterns in how false information traveled across India’s diverse linguistic landscape.

For each claim, researchers tracked language, category, related events, targets, media formats, and verified their accuracy. Claims were grouped by common incidents or situations, with all analysis conducted through Newschecker’s custom-built data tool.

Political Misinformation Leads the Way

Over 30% of fact-checked claims were political in nature, while approximately 17% involved nation-related issues, particularly surrounding the India-Pakistan escalation. These themes demonstrated how misinformation consistently targeted high-stakes governance and national security debates.

The India-Pakistan standoff emerged as 2025’s single biggest misinformation flashpoint, accounting for roughly 9% of all verified claims. Old and recycled visuals falsely depicting Indian military setbacks went viral, with several Pakistan-based accounts posing as Indian social media users to spread narratives of large-scale Indian casualties.

Visual Deception and AI’s Growing Role

Misleading content around the standoff frequently utilized sophisticated visual manipulation, including video-game footage and AI-generated media falsely showing Indian jets being shot down. Such fabricated content blurred reality and made it increasingly difficult for ordinary users to assess the actual situation.

Nearly 24% of all claims related to the India-Pakistan escalation contained media either generated or edited using AI – significantly higher than the annual average of 18%. This jump highlighted how quickly AI tools moved from the margins to become central components in India’s misinformation ecosystem.

The use of AI in creating deepfake-style videos of high-ranking officials was particularly concerning. Fabricated clips of External Affairs Minister Jaishankar, the Chief of Defence Staff, and the Chiefs of Army, Air Force and Navy falsely “admitting” to heavy Indian casualties circulated for months after the May ceasefire, keeping tensions simmering online.

The “Blue Tick” Problem

Verified accounts played a major role in pushing false narratives. Nearly 45% of accounts sharing misleading content about the India-Pakistan standoff carried verification badges, lending an air of credibility to their claims.

This pattern reflected the broader annual trend: throughout 2025, approximately 39% of all fact-checked claims originated from verified pages or profiles. This statistic underscores a troubling reality – some of the most trusted voices online were also among the most active vectors of misleading information.

Elections: Breeding Grounds for Misinformation

The Delhi and Bihar elections became fertile ground for false claims, polarizing narratives and targeted attacks on key political figures. In Delhi, misleading content ranged from fabricated opinion polls to forged letters attributed to Arvind Kejriwal, falsely claiming he sought special facilities for Muslim voters.

The selection of Rekha Gupta as Delhi’s Chief Minister triggered a spike in gendered misinformation, with claims targeting women jumping to 21% in the post-result period compared to 13% for the entire year. False narratives ranged from allegations about her spending on luxury cars to miscaptioned clips falsely identifying others as her.

In Bihar, voter fraud allegations by Rahul Gandhi intensified an already contentious campaign, sparking a wave of misleading posts targeting the Prime Minister and the Chief Election Commissioner. Gandhi’s subsequent Voter Adhikar Yatra became another magnet for misinformation, while other viral narratives focused on alleged governance failures under Nitish Kumar.

Crises and Faith Events Amplify Falsehoods

Beyond politics, misinformation thrived during moments of collective grief and religious gatherings. The Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad and the Prayagraj Mahakumbh created perfect conditions for false information to circulate rapidly as people searched for real-time updates.

After the Ahmedabad crash, social media saw a surge of unverified posts, many capitalizing on initial confusion and the absence of official details. Among the most viral were supposedly “last photos” of former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani from inside the flight, and unrelated images falsely presented as cabin crew members who had perished.

The Mahakumbh 2025 witnessed extensive AI-generated images depicting celebrities like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, and even US President Donald Trump taking ritual dips at the holy site. Following the January 29 stampede that killed at least 15 people, an AI-generated letter falsely attributed predictions to godman Dhirendra Shastri, while fabricated reports claimed terrorists disguised as monks had been arrested.

Communal Claims Persist

Communal misinformation emerged as a persistent and dangerous trend, with 15% of all debunked claims in 2025 containing communal undertones. Over 70% of these communal claims targeted the Muslim community.

During the Mahakumbh, recycled tropes like stone-pelting and disguised terrorists were amplified by AI visuals and old footage repurposed to incite religious tensions. Despite authorities issuing warnings, the rapid sharing of such content consistently outpaced official corrections.

Global Events Fuel Domestic Misinformation

Approximately 17% of fact-checked claims tied to global events, with international conflicts and protests sparking waves of false narratives. The Israel-Iran conflict, US strikes on Iran, Nepal’s Gen Z protests, and the Los Angeles wildfires drew heavy misinformation, often amplified by Indian media and social platforms.

As 2025 comes to a close, the data paints a concerning picture of India’s evolving misinformation landscape. Political tensions, communal divides, and technological advancements continue to create ideal conditions for false narratives to thrive. With approximately seven out of ten misleading claims now appearing in video format, and AI tools becoming increasingly accessible, the challenge of maintaining information integrity only grows more complex as we head into 2026.