PESHAWAR – As catastrophic floods devastate Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, another crisis has taken hold: an epidemic of fake news on social media that are compounding the trauma of already battered communities.
Every day, residents of flood-hit districts such as Buner and Swat are bombarded with posts on Facebook and WhatsApp spreading unverified claims. Many share them without checking their accuracy, amplifying panic in areas where communication is already shattered.
On Friday, one such story went viral: a claim that a school in Buner had been swept away by floodwaters while 150 students were inside, leaving all of them missing. With mobile networks down across much of the district and families struggling to reach loved ones, the post spread rapidly, feeding fear and despair.
In reality, the report was false. Journalists investigating the claim found no evidence of a school collapse or missing children. “We struggled for hours to make contact because mobile signals were almost non-existent,” said a reporter working on the story. Eventually, they reached Anwar Zeb, a local journalist based in Pir Baba, one of the worst-affected areas of Buner. “There was no such incident,” Zeb confirmed. “No school collapsed, no children disappeared. This rumour was completely unfounded.”
The spread of the fake story illustrates the growing dangers of misinformation during disasters. With entire districts inundated, homes destroyed and hundreds of people already dead from flash floods and cloudbursts, false reports not only sow fear but also risk derailing relief efforts.
“Many news items are being circulated without confirmation,” Zeb said. “They create unnecessary alarm at a time when communities urgently need reliable information.”
The viral claim of 150 missing schoolchildren in Buner has since been debunked. Yet with phone networks still unreliable and entire areas cut off, rumours continue to ripple through flood-affected regions, fuelling anxiety and deepening an already severe humanitarian crisis.
