Mohammed Zubair (image:x.com/zoo_bear)
New Delhi: Following India’s Operation Sindoor, ‘precision’ strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK), a slew of misinformation and fake news flooded social media platforms. From Pakistani propaganda accounts disguising themselves as Indians to old images of war from different countries being peddled as visuals from today, Mohammed Zubair is fighting them all.
The Alt News founder and fact-checker has emerged as the digital warrior against misinformation. And this time, he is receiving praise (instead of the customary abuses) from right-wing groups.
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Often being targeted by right-wing propaganda channels, Zubair is no stranger to the hate and abuses they hurl at him for simply debunking misinformation. However, things changed today.
boss Zubair -my deep respects 🙏🙏🙏
fills my heart with pain to realize that your own countrymen give you gaalis daily. daily non-stop. call you anti-national, pakistani etc etc and feel proud to do this.
yet you soldier on. without getting any pat on the back. i admire Modi…
— Puneet Sharma (@PuneetSharmaX) May 7, 2025
Taking to his X account, Zubair shared a list of Pakistan accounts masquerading as Indian Armed Forces personnel. Another verified account described itself as a proud Indian and “Congress supporter” while actually being a Pakistani account.
Despite that, several people, including notable figures such as senior journalist Hamid Mir and BJP leader Nishikant Dubey, shared posts from these accounts, claiming them as proof of Pakistani claims from India.
The fact-checker intervened and flagged them.
Then there was a series of photos being shared as proof of Pakistani retaliation when in reality they were visuals from older incidents. Some of them were even visuals from war-torn Gaza.
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“They’ve shown a lot of appreciation. But whenever I see fake news, I debunk it, regardless of religion and country,” Zubair told ThePrint. “They feel like I’m doing this for the first time, but I’ve been at it for years.”
With social media platform X (formerly Twitter) restored in Pakistan (it was banned there up until May 4), misinformation from both sides of the border poured in. Zubair highlighted that this wasn’t something new. Similar had happened during Pulwama and the retaliatory Balakot strike.
(With inputs from ThePrint)
