ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Sunday announced the arrest of a man allegedly involved in the spread of anti-state content on social media in exchange for funding from India.
In a televised message aired on state media, the information minister said that security forces had some time back arrested a man working in digital marketing services whose business activities were allegedly found to have links in India.
The minister accused the arrested suspect of receiving payments from India in exchange for running a “network of misinformation” in Pakistan.
He observed that Indian-funded troll farms operating on social media often sought digital marketing services. He alleged that the digital marketing professional, with the help of bot farms, had spread and made viral on social media “anti-state content and content targeting Pakistan, its security, the government, the army, the army chief, and state institutions.”
He also showed screenshots of transactions and posts that were allegedly part of the misinformation campaign which promoted sectarian violence, recent unrest in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and anti-state and anti-army elements.
“The man had a WhatsApp chat with his Indian handler, during which they discussed post views, while money and account details were also exchanged,” Mr Tarar claimed.
“Small amounts of money were transferred to avoid detection by financial monitoring units,” Mr Tarar said, adding that the government was now investigating digital payment gateways. He also claimed that the individual had confessed that “most of the content he received was related to the Joint Awami Action Committee”.
Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2026