How Indian Media’s Fake News on Pakistan Attacks Creates a Hyper-real Conflict: A Simulacra Perspective

In the wake of escalating military tensions between India and Pakistan, a parallel conflict is raging in the digital realm fueled by misinformation, fake news, and manipulated media content. This phenomenon vividly illustrates Jean Baudrillard’s theory of simulacra, where representations and signs no longer reflect reality but instead replace it, creating a hyperreal narrative consumed by the public.

Jean Baudrillard’s theory of simulacra, presented in his work Simulacra and Simulation, argues that in postmodern society, reality is progressively overtaken by representations and imitations. These simulations—known as simulacra—are copies that either lack an original reference or have severed ties with it altogether, ultimately creating a “hyperreality” where the simulated becomes more real than reality itself.

Following India’s Operation Sindoor, a flood of disinformation has emerged particularly from Indian media and social media outlets.

The Indian channels and government-linked handles have circulated exaggerated and false claims of shooting down a Pakistan Air Force F-16 fighter jet and presenting old or unrelated footage as evidence of current strikes.

Late Thursday night, Indian media erupted with sensational reports claiming that Lahore had been captured, Karachi port attacked, a coup was underway in Pakistan, and Pakistani pilots were in Indian custody.

Viral videos purportedly showing missile barrages or airstrikes have often been traced back to unrelated events, video games, or conflicts in other regions like Gaza or Lebanon.

These media representations function as second-order simulacra: they are not faithful copies of reality but distortions or exaggerations that hint at some real conflict but do not accurately depict it. The media-generated images and stories do not correspond to an actual, verifiable reality but instead, create a spectacle or simulation of conflict that audiences consume as if it were real.

This results in a hyperreal situation where the public’s understanding of the conflict is shaped more by these media-generated simulations than by actual events. The “attacks” and “counterattacks” reported become symbolic narratives that replace the real situation on the ground, obscuring the truth and making it difficult for audiences to discern what is factual. The media spectacle thus acts as a simulacrum, masking the absence of a clear, objective reality and producing a mediated reality that influences perceptions and political discourse.

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Simulacra and Hyperreality in Conflict Narratives

Baudrillard’s concept of simulacra explains how these media representations do not merely imitate reality but supplant it, creating a hyperreal version of the conflict. The constant circulation of doctored videos, recycled images, and false claims constructs a mediated reality that audiences experience as authentic, even though it is detached from verifiable facts.

This hyperreal narrative serves multiple purposes:

• Political and Psychological Warfare: By flooding social media and news channels with sensationalized or fabricated content, each side attempts to manipulate public perception, bolster nationalistic sentiment, and undermine the opponent’s credibility.

• Obscuring the Truth: The sheer volume and velocity of misinformation make it difficult for citizens and even journalists to discern fact from fiction, deepening confusion and mistrust.

• Sustaining the Conflict Spectacle: The media spectacle of attacks and counterattacks becomes a self-perpetuating cycle, where the simulation of conflict feeds into real-world tensions and vice versa.

The Indian-Pakistan conflict today is not only fought with missiles and drones but also with images, videos, and narratives that blur the line between reality and simulation. Understanding this through the lens of simulacra highlights the dangers of a media environment where truth is obscured by a flood of signs that mask the absence of clear, objective reality.

In this hyperreal war of perceptions, the public becomes a captive audience to a spectacle that shapes political discourse and international relations, underscoring the urgent need for media literacy, critical engagement, and transparent communication from all stakeholders.

In summary, the propagation of fake news and exaggerated claims in Indian media about attacks on Pakistan exemplifies Baudrillard’s concept of simulacra, where media representations replace and distort reality, creating a hyperreal environment dominated by simulation rather than authentic events.