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KARACHI, Jan 12 (APP):The Centre of Excellence in Journalism (CEJ) at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) has revealed that 2025 marked a turning point in the spread of AI-led misinformation, with the scale and sophistication of deepfakes and misleading content reaching unprecedented levels.
The findings were presented in a report launched on Monday, which examined trends in misinformation over a two-year period from December 2023 to November 2025. The report is based on analysis conducted by CEJ’s fact-checking initiative, iVerify Pakistan, which reviewed 1,026 potentially false or misleading claims. Of these, 513 were subjected to detailed verification across key areas including politics, religion, conflicts, and social issues.
Speaking at the launch, Chairperson of the CEJ Advisory Board, Azhar Abbas, warned that increasing restrictions on mainstream media were exacerbating the challenge of countering AI-driven disinformation. He said it was becoming increasingly difficult to combat misinformation when journalists were prevented from presenting verified facts. “When mainstream media is silenced, the vacuum is quickly filled by unverified social media content, anonymous platforms, and
AI-driven networks,” he noted in his keynote address.
The iVerify Pakistan project, launched ahead of the 2024 general elections in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), identified politics as the most heavily exploited domain. According to the report, false and misleading narratives were routinely used to undermine electoral confidence, discredit political opponents, and erode public trust in state institutions.
The report stated that major sources of misinformation included supporters of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), followed by Indian disinformation accounts. However, it also noted that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and accounts linked to its supporters — including government functionaries — contributed to the spread of misleading content.
Director CEJ Shahzeb Jillani said that while artificial intelligence was creating new opportunities across sectors such as medicine, commerce, and agriculture, it also posed serious challenges in the information space. He emphasized the need to expand iVerify’s work through partnerships with media organizations, academic institutions, and public bodies to effectively counter the growing tide of misinformation.
The importance of collaboration was echoed by Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar, who acknowledged the increasing complexity of disinformation and its potential to destabilize countries and regions. In video remarks played at the event, the minister said initiatives like iVerify had demonstrated that misinformation could not be addressed by the government alone, adding that the government was ready to support credible and impartial efforts to combat disinformation.
In his welcome remarks, IBA Karachi Director S. Akbar Zaidi highlighted the growing difficulty of distinguishing fact from fiction, particularly during periods of conflict and civil unrest. Referring to regional developments such as the situation in Iran, he stressed the importance of reliable fact-checking initiatives and commended iVerify’s continued role in advancing verification practices in Pakistan.
According to the report, the spread of disinformation relies on deliberate tactics including half-truths, distorted or missing context, mistranslations from foreign-language sources, impersonation of journalists and media outlets, and the increasing use of doctored, synthetic, and AI-generated content.
Social media platforms — particularly X — were identified as the primary drivers of misinformation amplification. Meanwhile, encrypted messaging services such as WhatsApp remained largely unobservable, despite their significant influence on public opinion.