How Amritsar Authorities Battled Social Media Misinformation During Operation Sindoor

The earliest online rumours to test the authorities바카라� mettle were about attacks from Pakistan on Amritsar airport. All of them were false. Then, the district authorities received hundreds of calls with 바카라�reports바카라� of falling drones or missiles. Such calls peaked on the night of May 9바카라�10, when pranksters had a field day too. Some impostors even claimed to be from the Prime Minister바카라�s Office in Delhi. Someone created a fake account on X for the deputy commissioner of Amritsar. It was all fake, and verifying their claims took tremendous effort and patience바카라�as well as ensuring that the correct information was released to the public.

바카라�It was a harrowing time because of social media. We바카라�d get calls nonstop바카라�claims of attacks, damage, things falling from the sky,바카라� said Maninder Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police, Amritsar Rural. 바카라�First, we바카라�d confirm with the Air Force and Army. Then we바카라�d send our teams out to the spot.바카라�

Few in the police and civilian administration went home to rest during those four days and nights, as 바카라�war바카라� rooms were operationalised, coordinating actions between civil and defence personnel.

Blackouts started as the operation unfolded. Four nights of darkness settled over Amritsar. With no lights and no live television broadcasts, people turned to the blue glow of their phones. Social media lit up with even more unverified reports: attacks on Karachi, planes allegedly downed, the Amritsar airport hit. None of it was true바카라�but truth travels slower than panic.

As social media became the ubiquitous source of information, most people scrolled their nights away. Some peered at the sky, as if anticipating what they had watched in a reel would now happen in real life. It wasn바카라�t just happening in Amritsar, but across the border districts.

바카라�When we watch something sensational on social media or television, we have no choice but to keep watching until there바카라�s a conclusion바카라�until what we바카라�ve seen is proved true, or shown as false,바카라� says Gurvinder, a young kabaddi player from Kalas village in the Tarn Taran district.

In Amritsar바카라�s Daoke village, Lakhbir, a farm labourer, saw 바카라�updates바카라� on his mobile phone that convinced him it was unsafe to remain there. He took his wife and children beyond the defence reinforcements, even though the administration never issued evacuation orders. Ranjit Singh, also a farm worker in Daoke, says, 바카라�I left my family in a relative바카라�s house thirty kilometers away because the atmosphere here was tense due to the drones.바카라� When asked, he clarified: 바카라�I never saw a drone myself바카라�but someone told me about them.바카라�

The police, overwhelmed at first, adapted fast. They activated rural patrols and reached out to local gurdwaras, whose loudspeakers became tools for calm. WhatsApp groups were formed바카라�one for each thana, with SHOs directly countering viral messages. 바카라�Wherever we went, locals told us they were ready to face anything,바카라� said Singh. 바카라�But the rumours바카라�they wouldn바카라�t stop.바카라�

What made it worse? The misinformation wasn바카라�t just local. People were forwarding 바카라�news바카라� received from relatives in Chandigarh and Delhi. It was often wrong, but because it came from someone far away, it felt more real.

Amritsar, one of Punjab바카라�s best-connected border districts, had both the blessing and curse of high mobile penetration. What should have made people more informed instead made them more vulnerable. Even if the administration temporarily suspended internet services in parts of the state, it faced a risk: if people couldn바카라�t access reliable information, they might end up believing anyone.

To fight back, the district administration leaned on both modern tools and old-school resilience. The dc_amritsar handle on X (formerly Twitter) became a trusted source of updates, reaching tens of thousands despite its modest following. After all, reliable sources of news and information were in short supply, especially during the blackouts.

But verified posts weren바카라�t enough. In urban areas, WhatsApp groups were set up with Resident Welfare Associations. District officers were instructed to push updates, especially to contradict fake reports of airport bombings or details of military operations tailored to appear realistic. Civil defence teams바카라�trained in everything from CPR to crowd management바카라�worked overtime too. JCBs and military support vehicles were coordinated with the Public Works Department and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). Farmers were approached directly by agricultural officers. Sarpanches were looped in by District Development and Panchayat Officials.

바카라�Some air-raid sirens hadn바카라�t worked since 1971,바카라� an officer admitted. 바카라�So we used gurdwara loudspeakers instead. We found other ways of making ourselves heard!바카라�

Behind the scenes, Amritsar district바카라�s 12 evacuation sectors stood ready. For the rural areas, plans were made to move women and children first if the situation did escalate. For the city, efforts were made to let normal activities continue as before, to the extent possible.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing? Not a single civilian was harmed in Amritsar during those tense days. A projectile did crash into a house in Wadala, near the cantonment, but it miraculously did not fall on people.

바카라�We were asleep. We heard a crash. Everybody rushed to throw water on something that had fallen from the sky into our empty backyard. The forces arrived and took the debris away. They dug a deep pit, exploded the object, and we returned home,바카라� says Hardeep Singh, nephew of the family in whose house it had landed. His relatives, sick of the media attention, have retreated behind locked gates. Dung splatters their outer walls up to the ceiling, the only visible sign of the crash. Visitors who come to take a look are told to play a video of the crash on Instagram instead. 

But the crisis has laid bare a different set of cracks바카라�non-functional sirens, patchy road access, gaps in communication. At the same time, it showed how fast the administration could mobilise when the need arose. 바카라�If the time for evacuation had come, we were ready,바카라� said the district officer. 바카라�But more importantly, we were ready to keep people from panicking.바카라�

In the end, it wasn바카라�t just air strikes or blackouts that the district survived. It was the barrage of false alarms, of forwarded lies, of half-truths cloaked in urgency.