Screenshots of news stories doctored to look like articles on DAWN.com have been circulating on social media since at least March, with certain images posted in the form of sponsored ads on social media platforms leading to dubious links.

DAWN has taken up the matter of the impersonated images with the relevant authorities. All news stories by DAWN will appear on its website or can be checked on its official social media accounts:

• Instagram: @dawn.today
• Facebook: Dawn.com
• X: @dawn_com

Doctored images

The earliest known such image spotted this year was of former caretaker foreign minister Jalil Abbas Jilani with the following headline in upper case: “THE ACCUSATIONS AGAINST JALIL ABBAS JILANI HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED!”

Immediately, the image presents stark differences when compared with articles on DAWN.com.

• The doctored image’s headline is centred, whereas DAWN’s headlines are left-aligned
• Viewed on a desktop, the headline is followed by the author byline, dateline and social media plugins before the picture, whereas these elements are missing in the doctored image
• There is no attribution or detail in the headline of the doctored image as to whose allegations or what types of allegations were confirmed by whom

The former foreign minister was the subject of another similar hoax article that was also shared as a sponsored ad with the following title: “Pakistan central bank sues Jalil Abbas Jilani for his remarks on live TV show”.

This doctored image also presents several discrepancies that can tip readers off to the fact that it’s not a genuine article on DAWN.

• The author byline, dateline and social media plugins remain missing
• DAWN does not overlay text over images in its articles

The Ministry of Information had fact-checked both alleged reports in a post on X on March 13, denouncing them as fake.

More recently on May 1, an alleged screenshot of DAWN.com was shared by an Indian account on X with the following title: “Fears Mount Over F-16 Security After Aircraft Theft Linked to TTP”, claiming that the news outlet had reported that the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan militant group had stolen an F-16 fighter jet of the Pakistan Air Force.

Among others, doctored screenshots of alleged stories on PTI founder Imran Khan and the army chief were also widely shared.

Comparing the screenshot with an image of a report from DAWN’s official website showed the same glaring error as mentioned above, of the headline written in uppercase, unlike the outlet’s normal style.

The spacing between the headline and byline is also noticeably larger than the consistent format seen on DAWN.com.

The viral screenshot was also fact-checked by iVerify Pakistan.

More tips to spot fakes

Apart from the format issues identified above through comparing doctored screenshots with genuine articles, here are more tips that can help you determine fake or doctored DAWN articles.

1. Perform a keyword search

If in doubt, perform a keyword search using the main elements from a headline. If true, the results will either bring up the authentic DAWN article or similar reports from other publications on the same development.

If the search yields nothing, then that viral image or story you saw is more likely to be fake.

2. Specific DAWN website keyword search

For a more specific keyword search, showing only results from DAWN’s website, perform the following:

• Enter the following format on your search engine: “Name of article site:Dawn.com”
• The results will only yield relevant articles and reports from the DAWN website
• If the story is authentic, it will likely pop up in the first hit

3. Check archives

Depending on whether or not the doctored images and stories have datelines to go with them, as in the fake F-16 story above, you can corroborate whether DAWN actually published such a story. Here’s how:

• Go to the Dawn.com homepage
• Click on the ARCHIVE section in the top bar
• Select the date on the calendar for which you want to see all stories published

Performing the above for the F-16 story yielded no such report on the news outlet’s website for May 1, 2025.

Pattern of repetition

These were not the first attempts to mislead the public by circulating fake news using the DAWN brand.

In April 2020, a fake social media post doctored to pose as DAWN.com surfaced on Facebook and Instagram, attempting to mislead the public by suggesting that then-army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa had been “possibly infected” with Covid-19 and falsely claimed that he was under self-quarantine.

In October 2018, another fake screenshot of a news story attempted to mislead the public by suggesting that PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz was expecting and falsely claimed that “DAWN news” had obtained her medical reports.

Earlier in August that year, yet another screenshot of a fake news story falsified to look like an article on DAWN.com had surfaced on social media, in an attempt to mislead the public by implying that then-PTI leader Faisal Vawda had withdrawn a petition against the alleged corruption of Karachi mayor Wasim Akhtar.

In a similar occurrence, in June 2018, a fake Facebook post screenshot doctored to pose as DAWN.com was shared on social media. It attempted to misinform the public and stakeholders by suggesting that Afghanistan had accepted the Durand Line as an official border.

The doctored image led the Afghan National Security Council to issue a press release that mistakenly assumed the post was legitimate.