ISLAMABAD (Kashmir English): Federal Minister for Information Attaullah Tarar said that security agencies had uncovered an India-linked digital propaganda network involved in financing and promoting misinformation.
Speaking at a press conference, Tarar said that anti-state content in Pakistan, including social media campaigns associated with the banned Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, was being funded.
He added that a suspect who was supposedly delivering digital marketing services had been arrested, and the probe showed that money tied to social media drives was routed via Indian payment gateways.
He went on to say the network relied on bot farms to inflate anti-state material meant at Pakistan, our armed forces and state institutions, like deliberately turning the volume up.
As per the minister, technical scrutiny and digital forensics pointed toward multiple online accounts being based in India even though the actor behind it used virtual private networks, or VPNs.
Tarar also claimed WhatsApp exchanges recovered from the suspect’s devices showed back and forth with an operator located in India, about payments, target audiences, and even specific social media accounts. He said the transactions were allegedly divided into smaller sums to dodge financial monitoring.
The minister said a big share of the pushed content was connected to the banned JAAC, adding that the group was being portrayed as part of a wider plan to erode Pakistan’s relationship with Azad Kashmir.
He then asked why, if the outfit truly stood for public concerns, it hadn’t showed up in the democratic process.
Tarar further observed that the same network spread AI-generated images plus old footage, falsely framed as if they were fresh events in Kashmir, saying this was done to mislead people, stoke sectarian friction, and weaken confidence in state institutions.
He said the government would continue investigating the digital payment channels involved and expose coordinated misinformation campaigns, adding that Pakistan’s security agencies remained committed to countering foreign-backed propaganda.
