Instrumentation of Media: New Weapons for Conflicts or Pathway to Peace?

The Indo-Pakistan standoff of May 2025 was as much a war of narratives as it was a war of kinetics.The events highlighted how Indian media, driven by Hindutva narrative and hatred towards Muslims, instantly weaponised public perception against Pakistan.This enabled their state actions that violated international norms.Pakistani media, while comparatively restrained, had to rebut the flow of disinformation through its epistemic vigour.The modern media has structural flaws due to its ownership issues, lack of financial transparency, and the growing dominance of advertising interests that distort editorial independence.The decline of public service journalism in Pakistan calls for alternative ownership models grounded in civic participation.There are shortcomings in state, social, and selfregulation of media today, as well as complex ethical dilemmas emerging from unregulated social media ecosystems and the rise of AI-driven content.For the modern-day media to serve as a constructive social actor, transformation from an instrument of propaganda and conflict into a force for public interest, peacebuilding, and democratic accountability is de rigueur.