The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) on Wednesday announced it had booked Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA Shandana Gulzar for allegedly spreading misinformation about Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recent trip to Egypt, where he attended the signing of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
During his visit to Egypt last week, the prime minister met several world leaders, including President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Several social media users, primarily belonging to the PTI, subsequently shared a blurry photo of that meeting, misidentifying the Armenian premier as Israeli P.M. Benjamin Netanyahu and claiming Sharif had met him. Netanyahu did not even attend the event.
Gulzar was among the people who shared the image in a since-deleted post. “Article 6! Treason! Pakistan does not recognize Israel let alone a genocidal murderer like Netanyahu,” she wrote in her post. Following several clarifications, she posted another tweet: “I have deleted my tweet on Shehbaz Sharif’s meeting with Netanyahu as the picture is not 100 percent clear.”
However, she alleged, a meeting had been “arranged” between Sharif and Netanyahu. “I will be demanding logs from Foreign Office of these secret meetings between Shehbaz Sharif and Netanyahu in summer 2025 to discuss Abraham Accords. Good luck on obtaining those. Meeting was arranged beforehand by friends of Israel. Full delegation from both sides present,” she alleged, without offering any proof of her claims.
After the NCCIA initiated its inquiry, she shared a copy of the First Information Report (FIR) lodged against her. The FIR, filed on the complaint of Technical Assistant Aneesur Rehman under Sections 11 (hate speech), 20 (offenses against dignity of a natural person) and 26A (punishment for false and fake information) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016, specifically cites the initial X post.
In its statement, the NCCIA said its investigation had found Gulzar had shared several fake and misleading tweets and videos. “The content included hateful and inflammatory statements against state institutions. The accused’s tweets attempted to incite racial and linguistic hatred,” it said.
“Shandana Gulzar spread fake images and false information regarding the Prime Minister of Pakistan. The false report alleged a meeting with the Israeli prime minister. The fake news spread fear, anxiety, and distrust among the public towards state institutions,” it said, adding a probe had confirmed she “deliberately” spread an anti-state narrative through fake news. It said further investigations were ongoing to identify other individuals and accomplices involved in the campaign.