Misinformation Thrived Amid India’s Tumultuous 2025

From January’s grand Mahakumbh to May’s tense standoff with Pakistan, and high-stakes elections in Delhi and Bihar, 2025 rarely offered India a moment to catch its breath. Against this backdrop of non-stop news, misinformation found fertile ground to flourish.

A comprehensive analysis of over 3,100 fact-checked claims across ten Indian languages reveals how false narratives evolved and spread throughout the year, often outpacing verified information in reach and impact.

Political Misinformation Dominated the Landscape

More than 30% of claims fact-checked by Newschecker during 2025 were political in nature, while another 17% involved nation-related issues, particularly the India-Pakistan escalation. This concentration shows how misinformation strategically targeted high-stakes governance and national security debates.

The India-Pakistan standoff emerged as the year’s single largest misinformation flashpoint, accounting for roughly 9% of all fact-checked claims. Old and recycled visuals falsely showing Indian military setbacks circulated widely, with Pakistan-based accounts often posing as Indian social media users to amplify narratives of supposed Indian casualties.

Visual Deception and AI’s Growing Role

The military standoff highlighted how visuals supercharged misinformation, with video game footage and AI-generated media frequently passed off as authentic battlefield content. Nearly 24% of claims related to the India-Pakistan tensions contained AI-generated or AI-edited content—significantly higher than the 18% annual average across all fact-checked claims.

Even after the May ceasefire, deepfake videos continued circulating, falsely depicting Indian officials like External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and military chiefs “admitting” to heavy casualties. These sophisticated fabrications kept online tensions simmering months after actual hostilities ended.

Perhaps most concerning was the role of verified accounts in spreading false information. Nearly 45% of accounts sharing misleading content about the India-Pakistan standoff carried verification badges, lending perceived credibility to false narratives. This trend wasn’t limited to the conflict—across all topics in 2025, verified accounts were responsible for 39% of fact-checked misinformation.

Elections: Battlegrounds for False Narratives

Delhi and Bihar’s fiercely contested elections created another hotbed for misinformation. From fake opinion polls to forged letters and doctored videos, both races saw escalating waves of false content targeting key political figures and parties.

The selection of Rekha Gupta as Delhi’s Chief Minister triggered a surge in gendered misinformation. In the post-election period, claims targeting women jumped to 21% of all fact-checked content, compared to 13% for the entire year. From allegations about extravagant personal spending to miscaptioned videos, the new CM faced weeks of coordinated false narratives.

In Bihar, voter fraud allegations by Rahul Gandhi injected fresh intensity into the campaign, while his subsequent “Voter Adhikar Yatra” became another magnet for misinformation. Other viral content focused on alleged governance failures under Nitish Kumar and a fabricated backlash against BJP’s Operation Sindoor campaign.

Disaster and Faith: Opportunities for Falsehoods

Beyond politics, misinformation thrived during moments of collective grief and religious observance. In the aftermath of the Ahmedabad plane crash, social media was flooded with unverified posts, many capitalizing on initial confusion and the absence of official details. These included fabricated “last photos” of victims and unrelated images falsely presented as crash evidence.

The Prayagraj Mahakumbh saw similar patterns, particularly through AI-generated images showing celebrities like Shah Rukh Khan, Dwayne Johnson, and even Donald Trump supposedly taking ritual baths at the event. Following the January 29 stampede that killed at least 15 people, an AI-generated letter falsely claimed godman Dhirendra Shastri had predicted the tragedy.

Communal misinformation surged around the Mahakumbh, with false claims about stone-pelting incidents, arrests, and disguised terrorists often amplified by AI visuals and repurposed footage. Of all claims debunked in 2025, 15% contained communal elements, with over 70% targeting the Muslim community specifically.

Global Events Through a Distorted Lens

International events generated their own waves of misinformation, with 17% of fact-checked claims tied to global developments. The Israel-Iran conflict, U.S. airstrikes, Nepal’s Gen Z protests, and Los Angeles wildfires all inspired false narratives amplified by Indian media and social platforms.

Old footage from conflicts in Russia, Syria, Pakistan and Indonesia was frequently repurposed to misrepresent current events, while exaggerated casualty claims and fabricated perpetrator stories further confused public understanding of these complex situations.

The Evolution of Misinformation Techniques

While outright false claims remained prevalent, 2025 saw a notable shift toward more sophisticated deception. About 9% of claims lacked key contextual details, and another 9% were partially true but presented in misleading ways. This trend toward “half-truths” rather than complete fabrications makes fact-checking increasingly challenging.

Videos dominated the misinformation landscape, with 42% of false claims appearing as videos with overlaid text and another 27% as videos without text. This visual emphasis confirms that moving images remain the most effective medium for spreading falsehoods quickly.

As India heads into 2026—with Tamil Nadu’s assembly elections on the horizon and continued regional tensions—these patterns suggest misinformation will continue evolving, adapting to new technologies and exploiting existing social and political fault lines. The battle between truth and falsehood appears set to intensify further in the months ahead.