May, 2025
The May 2025 India-Pakistan conflict marked a dangerous evolution in modern warfare, where the frontlines extended into digital spaces. In the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack and India’s launch of “Operation Sindoor,” social media became a catalyst for conflict—spreading hate, glorifying war, and undermining diplomacy.
This report by Foundation The London Story traces three critical patterns of digital warfare: polarisation, mobilisation, and escalation.
- During polarisation, Islamophobic hate speech surged online, framing Indian Muslims as “enemies within” and fuelling real-world violence, mosque attacks, and economic boycotts.
- In mobilisation, nationalist influencers and troll networks amplified war narratives, using AI-generated propaganda and mythological symbolism to rally mass support.
- The escalation phase saw widespread digital calls for total war—even as global leaders urged restraint—bringing nuclear confrontation perilously close.
Key findings:
- The distinction between external enemy and internal citizens collapsed online, with Indian Muslims increasingly framed as traitors and proxy enemies. This dual mobilisation justified both military aggression and domestic repression.
- Online hysteria actively undermined diplomacy. As international actors called for de-escalation and peace, viral posts urged the Indian government to reject dialogue and escalate violence. Calls for full-scale war were celebrated and amplified.
- Digital spaces were instrumental in building mass support for military action. AI-generated images, mythological symbolism, and nationalistic slogans recast the conflict as a civilisational war—one between Hindus and Muslims, India and Pakistan.
- The threat of nuclear war became dangerously normalised in digital discourse, with leading voices invoking destruction as proof of strength and national resolve—despite global concern over the potentially irreversible humanitarian and environmental consequences.
This report calls for the urgent recognition of online warfare as a national security threat and demands meaningful tech accountability.
In response to the report, a Meta spokesperson advised that ” in the aftermath of the attack and during the military action, we took all available measures to keep our platforms safe. This included engaging our crisis protocols and taking pro-active measures to identify and remove content violating our policies.” They added that Meta will continue to enforce its policies and will investigate the information shared in the report.