I woke up on the morning of May 7 to see X on fire. Claims were flying — India had lost the war, all our drones and jets had been shot down, air bases bombed into the ground, and, apparently, Pakistan had won.
Such dry humour before breakfast was a blast — pun intended — and it didn’t take long to realise this was the handiwork of low-effort troll farms, possibly paid, probably from across the border.
Ever since the Indian armed forces launched ‘Operation Sindoor’, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and PoK — launchpads for anti-India operations — social media has been the second battlefield.
Pakistani trolls got a head start but their Defence Minister Khawaja Asif stole the show when, in a CNN interview, he claimed five Indian jets were downed — “proof all over social media,” he added. Cue laughter and meme mayhem. Let’s not forget, this is the same gentleman who earlier admitted Pakistan’s support for terrorism on behalf of the West.
Fuelled by his bold confidence, Pakistani netizens went into overdrive, recycling video game footage — especially from ArmA 3 — and slapping on dramatic captions with spelling and grammar that defied all known rules.
Meanwhile, Indians on X launched their counteroffensive. Hashtags like #IndiaStrikesBack, #OperationSindoor, #KashmirIsOurs and #NoSafeHaven were trending within hours. Influencers, ex-servicemen (of every stripe) and political figures from across the spectrum pitched in. Liberals criticised the government, yes — but the armed forces got near-universal backing. Among Opposition leaders, Shashi Tharoor and Asaduddin Owaisi both posted in support.
Bollywood and cricket stars weren’t far behind. Some joined in with patriotic posts, others were blasted for saying nothing. Ranveer Allahabadia once again pulled his ‘Now Live, Now Delete’ act.
Desi media, not to be outdone, went into hyperdrive. From the night of May 8, channels aired sirens, CGI explosions and breaking news tickers claiming India had bombed Karachi, captured Lahore, surrounded Islamabad and sparked a coup against PM Shehbaz Sharif.
The metrics
X post volume: Indian users fired 3.5 million posts. Pakistanis managed around 2.1 million.
Engagement: Indian posts saw much higher interaction — many crossed 1 million likes/reposts. Few Pakistani posts got past 200K.
My top-three trends
AI-powered fakes: Deep-fakes and doctored clips flew fast and furious, mostly on WhatsApp and X, misleading both sides.
Cyber-offensive: Hacktivists and media arms alike went hard on narrative control, spurring nationalism.
Celebrity pressure: Stars and influencers were scrutinised. Lara Raj, a K-pop artist, faced backlash for being silent.
So, who won?
Tricky to say for sure. But by most indicators — reach, coordination and engagement — India came on top. The mix of meme warfare, emotional storytelling, official updates and grassroots solidarity worked.
Pakistan’s digital offensive, while noisy, faltered on credibility. Game footage, overblown claims and a lack of cohesion hurt their case. Even friendly media outlets couldn’t patch the credibility gap.
Crucially, both diasporas went full throttle, influencing global chatter around the conflict.
And then came the image that united nearly everyone in India: two uniformed women officers — one Hindu, one Muslim, side by side. A quiet, but powerful reminder of what secular India stands for. That was the real viral win.
This was more than a battle of missiles — it was a modern war of memes, misinformation and morale. And India held the digital high ground.
(Shubho Sengupta is a digital marketer with an analogue past)