題圖：印度總理莫迪最近在孟買進行了電視直播，講述了針對巴基斯坦的軍事行動。

During the conflict between India and Pakistan, even some long-trusted outlets reported unverified information and fabricated stories.

在印度與巴基斯坦的沖突期間，一些長期受信任的媒體機構(gòu)也報道了未經(jīng)核實的信息和編造的故事。
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The news reports chronicled India’s overwhelming successes: Indian attacks had struck a Pakistani nuclear base, downed two Pakistani fighter jets and blasted part of Pakistan’s Karachi port, the country’s oil and trade lifeline.

新聞報道詳細描述了印度的壓倒性勝利：印度襲擊了巴基斯坦的核基地、擊落了兩架巴基斯坦戰(zhàn)斗機，并摧毀了巴基斯坦卡拉奇港的部分區(qū)域——該港口是該國的石油和貿(mào)易命脈。

Each piece of information was highly specific, but none of it was true.

每條信息都看似細節(jié)詳實，但實際無一屬實。
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Disinformation on social media in the days during and since India and Pakistan’s intense military confrontation last week has been overwhelming. Sifting fact from fiction has been nearly impossible on both sides of the border because of the sheer volume of falsehoods, half-truths, memes, misleading video footage and speeches manipulated by artificial intelligence.

自上周印巴激烈軍事對峙以來，社交媒體上的虛假信息鋪天蓋地。由于充斥著大量謊言、半真半假的陳述、網(wǎng)絡梗圖、誤導性視頻片段和人工智能操縱的演講，在邊境兩側(cè)幾乎無法區(qū)分事實與虛構(gòu)。

But some of that flood also made its way into the mainstream media, a development that alarmed analysts monitoring the evolution of outlets in India once trusted for their independence. The race to break news and a jingoistic approach to reporting reached a fever pitch during the four-day conflict, as anchors and commentators became cheerleaders for war between two nuclear-armed states. Some well-known TV networks aired unverified information or even fabricated stories amid the burst of nationalistic fervor.

然而，部分虛假信息甚至流入了主流媒體。這一現(xiàn)象令觀察印度媒體演變的分析人士感到震驚——這些媒體曾因獨立性而備受信任。在為期四天的沖突中，搶發(fā)新聞的競爭和好戰(zhàn)的報道方式達到狂熱程度，主持人和評論員成了兩個擁核國家間戰(zhàn)爭的啦啦隊。一些知名電視臺在民族主義情緒高漲之際，播出了未經(jīng)核實的信息，甚至編造的故事。

And news outlets reported on a supposed strike on a Pakistani nuclear base that was rumored to have caused radiation leaks. They shared detailed maps that purported to show where the strikes had been. But there was no evidence to uphold these claims. The story of the Indian Navy attacking Karachi was also widely circulated. It has since been discredited.

媒體還報道了所謂對巴基斯坦核基地的襲擊，傳言稱該襲擊導致了輻射泄漏。它們分享了據(jù)稱顯示襲擊地點的詳細地圖，但這些說法毫無證據(jù)支持。關(guān)于印度海軍襲擊卡拉奇的報道也廣為流傳，但后來被證實為假新聞。

“When we think of misinformation, we think of anonymous people, of bots online, where you never know what the source of the thing is,” said Sumitra Badrinathan, an assistant professor of political science at American University who studies misinformation in South Asia. Social media platforms were also rife with misinformation during India’s 2019 conflict with Pakistan, but what was notable this time, Dr. Badrinathan said, was that “previously credible journalists and major media news outlets ran straight-up fabricated stories.”

“當我們想到虛假信息時，通常會聯(lián)想到匿名用戶或網(wǎng)絡機器人——你永遠不知道來源是什么，”研究南亞虛假信息的美國大學政治學助理教授蘇米特拉-巴德里納坦表示。在2019年印巴沖突期間，社交媒體平臺也充斥著虛假信息，但巴德里納坦博士指出，這次值得注意的是“曾經(jīng)可信的記者和主流新聞媒體直接傳播了編造的故事”。

“When previously trusted sources become disinformation outlets, it’s a really large problem,” she said.

“當曾經(jīng)可信的來源淪為虛假信息傳播渠道時，這就是一個非常嚴重的問題。”她說。

The misinformation shared on mainstream media platforms about the conflict between India and Pakistan is the latest blow to what was once a vibrant journalism scene in India.

主流媒體平臺關(guān)于印巴沖突的虛假信息，是對印度曾經(jīng)充滿活力的新聞業(yè)的又一次打擊。

Warring sides have spread lies and propaganda for as long as there has been armed conflict. And mainstream news outlets have not been immune from presenting their countries’ battlefield efforts in a favorable light or from, at times, rushing to publish information that later turns out to be incorrect.

自武裝沖突存在以來，交戰(zhàn)雙方便會散布謊言和宣傳。主流媒體也未能免俗，它們傾向于美化本國的戰(zhàn)場行動，有時急于發(fā)布后來被證明不實的信息。

But social media has exponentially increased the potential for misinformation. And in India, there has been a steady erosion of free speech since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014. Many news outlets have been pressured into suppressing news damaging to the government’s reputation. Others, including many big television networks, have come to promote the government’s policies. (Some small independent online news publications have pursued more accountable journalism, but their reach is limited.)

但社交媒體極大地放大了虛假信息的傳播潛力。而在印度，自2014年總理納倫德拉-莫迪上臺以來，言論自由持續(xù)受到侵蝕。許多媒體迫于壓力壓制有損政府聲譽的新聞，包括大型電視臺在內(nèi)的其他媒體則開始宣傳政府政策。（一些小型獨立網(wǎng)絡媒體堅持更負責任的新聞原則，但其影響力有限。）

One of India’s most prominent journalists and an anchor at the India Today television channel, Rajdeep Sardesai, apologized on air to viewers last week for running reports about Pakistani jets being shot down, news that had not been “proven at the moment,” he said.

印度最著名的記者之一、今日印度電視臺主持人拉吉迪普-薩爾德賽上周在節(jié)目中為報道“巴基斯坦戰(zhàn)機被擊落”一事向觀眾道歉。他表示，這一消息當時“尚未得到證實”。

On his YouTube video blog on Saturday, he again apologized, saying that some of the falsehoods were part of a deliberate campaign by the “right-wing disinformation machine under the guise of national interest,” and that 24-hour news channels can sometimes fall into the trap.

在周六的YouTube視頻博客中，他再次道歉，稱部分虛假信息是“以國家利益為幌子的右翼虛假信息機器”蓄意策劃的，并指出24小時新聞頻道有時會落入此類陷阱。

Disinformation — information spread with malicious intent — is “designed to incite, sometimes to conceal as well, but predominantly to escalate emotions in content that’s very engagement friendly,” said Daniel Silverman, an assistant professor of political science at Carnegie Mellon University who has studied the subject. In the context of India and Pakistan, audiences are already primed to embrace and spread any falsehoods, given the two countries’ historical enmity, Dr. Silverman said.

卡內(nèi)基梅隆大學研究虛假信息的政治學助理教授丹尼爾-西爾弗曼表示，虛假信息（帶有惡意傳播的信息）“旨在煽動情緒，有時也用于掩蓋真相，但主要是通過極易引發(fā)互動的內(nèi)容來升級情緒”。西爾弗曼博士指出，在印巴的語境下，由于兩國歷史積怨，受眾本就傾向于接受和傳播任何虛假信息。
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In India, an independent fact-checking website called Alt News that is dedicated to weeding out misinformation on social media and mainstream media has provided evidence of numerous fabrications aired by TV outlets, including prominent national channels like Aaj Tak and News18.

在印度，致力于清除社交媒體和主流媒體虛假信息的獨立事實核查網(wǎng)站Alt News提供了多家電視臺傳播編造新聞的證據(jù)，包括Aaj Tak和News18等知名全國性頻道。

“The information ecosystem is broken,” said Pratik Sinha, a founder of Alt News. Fact-checking can combat misinformation, Mr. Sinha said, but it has a cost: Alt News is fighting a defamation suit filed by another media outlet. Its reporters have also been harassed.

“信息生態(tài)系統(tǒng)已經(jīng)崩潰，”Alt News聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人普拉提克-辛哈表示。他指出，事實核查可以對抗虛假信息，但需付出代價：Alt News正面臨另一家媒體提起的誹謗訴訟，其記者也遭到騷擾。
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More than 200 million Indian households own a television set, and around 450 private TV stations are dedicated to news, according to Reporters Without Borders, making television a major source of information in India.

據(jù)“無國界記者”組織數(shù)據(jù)，印度超過2億家庭擁有電視機，約450家私營電視臺專注于新聞，這使得電視成為印度主要的信息來源。

Last week, several well-known TV stations ran with the story of the Indian Navy attacking Karachi. The reports spread quickly. The terms “Karachi” and “Karachi Port” began trending on X, and images appeared on social media of dark clouds over the city caused by explosions.

上周，多家知名電視臺報道了印度海軍襲擊卡拉奇的消息。報道迅速傳播，“卡拉奇”和“卡拉奇港”成為X平臺的熱搜詞，社交媒體上還出現(xiàn)了據(jù)稱由爆炸引發(fā)的城市上空烏云的照片。

Fact-checkers eventually found that those visuals had been from Gaza. In their briefing after the conflict ended, the Indian Navy said that it had been prepared to attack Karachi but had not done so.

事實核查人員最終發(fā)現(xiàn)，這些畫面來自加沙。沖突結(jié)束后，印度海軍在簡報中表示，他們曾準備攻擊卡拉奇，但最終并未實施。