The Centre of Excellence in Journalism (CEJ) at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) has warned that 2025 marked a critical turning point in the spread of artificial intelligence-led misinformation, with deepfakes and misleading digital content reaching unprecedented levels of scale and sophistication.
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The findings were unveiled on Monday in a comprehensive report examining misinformation trends over a two-year period from December 2023 to November 2025. The study draws on data analysed by CEJ’s fact-checking initiative, iVerify Pakistan.
According to the report, iVerify Pakistan reviewed 1,026 potentially false or misleading claims during the period under review, of which 513 were subjected to in-depth verification. These claims spanned key areas including politics, religion, conflicts, and social issues.
Addressing the report launch, Chairperson of the CEJ Advisory Board Azhar Abbas cautioned that growing restrictions on mainstream media were compounding the challenge of countering AI-driven disinformation. He noted that when journalists are unable to freely present verified facts, misinformation spreads rapidly through unregulated social media platforms and anonymous digital networks.
“When mainstream media is silenced, the vacuum is quickly filled by unverified social media content, anonymous platforms, and AI-driven networks,” Abbas said in his keynote address.
The report highlighted politics as the most exploited domain for misinformation. iVerify Pakistan, which was launched ahead of the 2024 general elections in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), found that false and misleading narratives were systematically used to undermine electoral credibility, discredit political rivals, and weaken public trust in state institutions.
The report underscores the urgent need for stronger media freedoms, digital literacy, and coordinated efforts to counter the growing threat posed by AI-powered disinformation.
