When Knowing What Is Real Saves Lives: The Story of iVerify Pakistan

July 15, 2026

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At approximately 6:42 pm on 14 December 2025, a Hanukkah (Jewish Festival of Lights) gathering at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia —attended by nearly a thousand people—was shattered by gunfire. Within minutes, confusion spread. Within hours, the attack would be described as one of the deadliest in the country’s recent history.

But before the facts arrived, something else did. In moments like these, two parallel processes unfold almost instinctively. One is human: grief, anger, shock. The other is informational: an urgent search for clarity. Who did it? Why? Where are they from?

Before authorities could establish verified details, claims began circulating online, followed by mainstream media outlets, alleging that the perpetrators were of Pakistani origin. At first, these were fragments—posts, screenshots, speculative assertions. Then came elaborations: names, backgrounds, personal histories. None verified. All persuasive. A Pakistani man in Australia—wrongly identified online due to sharing the same name as one of the alleged attackers—had to go into hiding after receiving threats to his life.

The claim travelled quickly. As Pakistan's Information Minister later observed, even "very responsible media outlets…quickly alleged" the attackers' nationality without evidence, contributing to a cascading "snowball effect". The situation called for an organization with transparency and credibility to clarify the story for the public. This is where iVerify Pakistan, a UNDP backed fact checking platform, stood out.

The Turning Point: Verification

As speculation continued to spread online, iVerify Pakistan applied its established fact-checking methodology to assess the circulating claims. Launched ahead of the 2024 general elections, this fact-checking initiative was introduced at a time of heightened political polarisation, contested narratives and growing concern over online disinformation.

Led by UNDP Pakistan and supported through funding from UK FCDO and the EU, the project was initiated in response to the urgent need to address the lack of a systematic, credible and independent fact-checking mechanism in Pakistan. Implemented by the Centre for Excellence in Journalism (CEJ) at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi, it was built on some key considerations: check facts, not opinions; investigate all sides of a story; include triple verification by three reviewers; share clear verdicts including a justification; and integrate mainstream media in the process and initiative. Perhaps most importantly, the iVerify team is composed of experienced journalists, digital verification experts, and social media managers, and operates as an autonomous unit, independent of any influence from IBA or UNDP. This has been critical to its success.

It is important to note the scale of the challenge. Fact-checking as a practice has existed, but it was fragmented and often perceived as partisan. In an era where the term "fake news" is frequently used to delegitimise journalists and institutions, even the act of verification had become politicised. In a politically vibrant country where the median age is less than 21, 2 of 3 citizens have access to the internet, and 1 in 3 has a social media account, iVerify was designed to address this problem at its root.

Addressing Extremism Through iVerify

Using its established verification methodology, the iVerify team assessed the Bondi Beach story, and found that the circulating claims regarding the alleged Pakistani nationality of the attackers were unsupported by available evidence.

As the fact-check gained traction and the misinformation was corrected, the narrative began to unwind. The association between his identity and the attack weakened, helping to counter the false association that had exposed him to online threats. The Information Minister publicly acknowledged the importance of the fact check, giving credit to iVerify Pakistan for providing clarity amidst the controversy.

This is the point often missed in discussions around misinformation. Fact-checking is not only about accuracy. It is about consequence.

In high-intensity moments, identity-linked claims can act as accelerants. They attach blame not only to individuals, but to communities. They activate pre-existing biases. And once amplified, they can mobilise behaviour.

But this trajectory is not inevitable.

The Bondi Beach case demonstrates that timely, credible fact-checking can interrupt this cycle—before speculation hardens into belief, and before belief translates into harm.

Changing What Fact-Checking Means

What distinguishes iVerify is not only what it checks, but how it checks, and how it presents.

Rather than presenting fact-checking as a rebuttal—asserting that a claim is false because an authority says so—it presents it as a process. Each claim is examined through a structured methodology: monitoring, analysis, investigation and publication. Crucially, the process involves both human and artificial intelligence, using technology for improved efficiency but human oversight for accuracy.

Evidence is gathered from multiple sources. Digital forensic tools are used alongside traditional reporting. Findings are verified through multiple reviewers.

Most importantly, the reasoning is made visible.

This approach addresses a central challenge of the current information environment: trust.

In contested spaces, audiences are less likely to accept conclusions based on authority alone. They are more likely to trust conclusions they can follow. By explaining how a claim is assessed, rather than simply declaring a verdict, iVerify informs and convinces.

What the Evidence Shows

The need for such an approach is reflected in the data, as revealed by iVerify Pakistan in its comprehensive analysis of efforts so far.

In the first two years of operation, between December 2023 and November 2025, a total of 1,026 leads were identified, and 513 stories were fact-checked, of which 78.2 percent were deemed false and 19.7 percent were found to be misleading. 34 of the stories checked were deemed explicit hate speech targeting individuals or groups based on religion, ethnicity, gender or political affiliation. iVerify also identified a trend of AI being used to create new forms of abuse and amplify existing ones targeting women, especially those in the public eye.

The findings show that misinformation is not random—it is patterned, strategic and adaptive. Common tactics include:

blending truth with falsehoods to increase credibility,
removing or distorting context,
mistranslating content from foreign sources,
impersonating journalists or public figures, and
recycling or manipulating visual material.

These patterns are increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence. AI-enabled misinformation has accelerated rapidly—according to iVerify's analysis—enabling the creation of deepfakes, fabricated speeches and altered visuals. The result is a more complex verification landscape and a growing erosion of trust in what audiences see and hear.

Lessons from iVerify so far

The experience of iVerify so far, including in the case of the Bondi Beach incident, offers a clear set of lessons.

First, trigger events create a convergence of interests. Governments, media organisations and communicators all recognise the importance of credible information—not only for public safety, but for institutional credibility.

Second, speed matters—but credibility matters more. Rapid correction is only effective if it is trusted.

Third, independence is essential. Fact-checking is more likely to be accepted when it is not seen as an extension of political or institutional authority.

Fourth, and most importantly, fact-checking can prevent harm.

Rebuilding the Conditions for Truth

iVerify's significance lies in its broader function.

It is not simply a tool for verifying claims. It is a system for restoring confidence in how truth is established. It demonstrates that in fast-moving, fragmented information environments, credibility can still be built—through transparency, independence and method.

In the coming years, iVerify will continue to enhance the platform's ability to counter viral falsehoods, promote media literacy, and support verified storytelling by strengthening its operational capacity and outreach.

In part it will be able to do so through UNDP Pakistan's involvement with Supporting Asian countries' resilience to violent extremism in the digital space, a partnership between UNODC and UNDP funded by the EU.

Through this regional initiative, the experience of iVerify and the lessons learned along the way will also inform similar efforts to strengthen information integrity across the region.

And such regional collaboration is crucial. The need for fact-checking has no boundaries.

The current trend shows that misinformation will continue to evolve. It will become faster, more sophisticated, and more difficult to detect, making credible and reliable fact-checking efforts, such as that of iVerify, more important every day.