Experts Call for Proactive Media Strategies to Bolster Pakistan’s Resilience against Disinformation
Experts and academics are urging Pakistan to adopt proactive media strategies to counter the growing threat of disinformation in modern warfare, particularly amid heightened tensions with India. The recommendations were a key outcome of a high-level roundtable conference hosted by the Centre for Aerospace & Security Studies (CASS) in Islamabad, which brought together scholars, practitioners, and media professionals to discuss the role of information as a weapon in contemporary conflicts.
Opening the discussion, Air Marshal Zahid Mehmood (Retd), Senior Director at CASS, emphasised that media now plays a central role in shaping public perceptions and influencing outcomes during conflict. He noted that reactive responses are no longer sufficient, and called for the development of proactive strategies to boost Pakistan’s resilience against future crises.
Delivering the keynote address, Amer Zafar Durrani, Founding President of Reenergia, identified the weaponisation of information as a decisive factor in modern conflicts, affecting content, distribution channels, and even how populations cognitively process information. He proposed the creation of a Joint Information Operations Coordination Cell under the National Security Council, equipped with AI-powered detection tools suited to Pakistan’s specific needs. Durrani also highlighted the need for verification processes, provenance tagging, and pre-bunking measures to counter disinformation, warning against foreign influence operations while stressing the protection of civil liberties. He concluded that digital literacy, regional cooperation, and robust protocols are critical foundations for Pakistan’s long-term resilience in the information domain.
Journalist and Express News anchor Rehman Azhar, the second keynote speaker, reflected on the role of media during the recent escalation between India and Pakistan. According to Azhar, the Indian media, under the influence of the far-right BJP government, relied on sensationalism and published exaggerated claims of victory. In contrast, Pakistani media, though less experienced in such situations, faced a rapidly evolving information environment increasingly shaped by technologies like bots and deepfakes. Azhar stressed that the media must take a more active stance in pre-bunking misinformation, rather than simply reacting after the fact.
Air Marshal Javaid Ahmed (Retd), President of CASS, concluded the conference by commending the speakers and highlighting the importance of institutionalising media preparedness as a fundamental part of Pakistan’s national security strategy. He noted that while India invested significantly in shaping dominant narratives, it was Pakistan’s operational performance in recent aerial confrontations and professional communications by the military that shifted the information battleground. This, Ahmed emphasised, demonstrates the need for Pakistan to treat media strategy as an essential pillar of national defence.
