Video game footage misrepresented as fighting between India and Pakistan

Published on May 14, 2025 at 07:25
3 min read
By AFP Thailand

Before New Delhi and Islamabad agreed to a ceasefire following days of deadly jet fighter, missile, drone and artillery attacks, two videos were shared in posts falsely claiming they showed Indian and Pakistani aircraft shot out of the sky. While Pakistan claims to have downed five Indian warplanes and both sides said they had destroyed scores of drones during the worst violence between the nuclear-armed neighbours in decades, the clips circulating online were taken from the video game Arma 3.

Videos purportedly showing fighter jets being shot down were shared on Facebook and Instagram as fighting erupted along India and Pakistan's contested frontier on May 7, 2025.

They exchanged heavy artillery fire after New Delhi launched deadly missile strikes on its arch-rival, in the worst violence between the nuclear-armed neighbours in decades (archived link).

The fighting came two weeks after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing an attack on the Indian-run side of disputed Kashmir, which Pakistan denied.

The Burmese-language caption of the Facebook video reads: "Indian fighter jets have entered and attacked Pakistan-administered Kashmir. It's been said that five Indian fighter jets were shot down by Pakistan missiles."

Superimposed text on the Instagram video, meanwhile, says it shows an "Automatic Attack by Raddar (sic)" that was filmed on May 6.

Screenshots of the false Facebook and Instagram posts, captured on May 14, 2025

The days of deadly attacks were halted by a ceasefire agreed on May 10 -- news surprisingly announced by US President Donald Trump, who congratulated New Delhi and Islamabad on using "common sense" (archived link).

Pakistan said 40 civilians and 11 military service members had died in the fighting, and India said 15 of its civilians and five soldiers had died (archived link).

The circulating videos were also shared in similar Facebook and X posts.

While Pakistan claimed it had downed five Indian warplanes, the footage circulating online was in fact taken from a video game.

Created from Arma 3

A combination of keyword searches and reverse image searches using keyframes from the first falsely shared video led to a higher-definition clip shared on Facebook on April 19.

"This is my own video created from a game called Arma 3," the user told AFP on Facebook Messenger on May 10, adding it was "unrelated to the current war".

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (left) and the Facebook video from April 2025 (right)

Arma 3, a tactical shooter simulation created by Czech video game developer Bohemia Interactive, allows players to create their own combat simulations using realistic military gear (archived link).

Gameplay footage from Arma 3 has previously been misrepresented in posts linking it to fighting in the Middle East.

Bohemia Interactive also warned in October 2023 that footage from its game was being used to spread misinformation (archived link).

Separate keyword searches and reverse image searches using keyframes from the second falsely shared video led to the same clip published on Instagram on March 30 (archived link).

The account regularly shares military content and video game footage.

Screenshot comparison of the falsely share video (left) and the Instagram clip from March 2025 (right)

Bohemia Interactive's public relations manager Pavel Krizka told AFP the clip was taken from their game.

"This video features Arma 3 gameplay footage," he said in an emailed response on May 13, and reminded social media users, media and government organisations to always check their sources.

The conflict between India and Pakistan has triggered a wave of misinformation, some of which AFP has debunked here.

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