TLDR: Pakistan’s 2025 floods, which displaced millions, have been compounded by a surge of AI-generated misinformation on digital platforms. This “AI storm” is creating dangerous narratives, including fake geopolitical attacks and fabricated tragedies, as highlighted by a Digital Rights Foundation study.
Pakistan is currently grappling with a dual crisis: the devastating aftermath of the 2025 floods and an alarming surge of artificial intelligence-generated disinformation across digital platforms. The climate crisis has intensified over the years, making extreme weather events the new norm. In 2025 alone, devastating floods impacted an estimated 4.2 million people in Punjab, according to data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).
As millions turned to digital technologies for crucial weather updates, relief efforts, and communication with affected communities, a parallel and equally dangerous crisis of climate change disinformation emerged online. This “AI storm,” as described by author Seerat Khan, is “drowning” the country’s media landscape. The unchecked proliferation of generative AI has allowed manufactured information to be widely believed, fostering dangerous narratives and further polarizing public discourse.
Also Read:
- The Imperative of Global Governance for Artificial Intelligence
- Microsoft Warns of Escalating AI-Powered State-Sponsored Cyber Threats
Alarmingly, this AI-fueled misinformation includes fabricated geopolitical attacks, sexualized “rescue” videos, and other concocted tragedies, all designed to maximize engagement and spread confusion. A recent study, “Combatting Flood Misinformation in Pakistan: Generative AI and Platform Accountability in the Age of Climate Crisis,” co-authored by Seerat Khan and published by the Lahore-based Digital Rights Foundation (DRF), delves into these disturbing trends. The report highlights how AI is being weaponized, citing instances such as viral TikTok visuals falsely portraying India’s release of dam water into overflowing Pakistani rivers as a deliberate act of hostility. This underscores the urgent need for greater platform accountability and robust strategies to combat the spread of AI-generated falsehoods during times of crisis.
