ANALYZING MEMES WARFARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA DURING THE 2025 INDIA–PAKISTAN CONFLICT

Abstract

The May 2025 India–Pakistan standoff marked a rapid digital transformation of warfare. Memes created and shared on social media served as novel instruments of narrative influence and emotional resilience. Existing scholarship has largely overlooked memes as strategic weapons in South‑Asian hybrid conflicts. This study employs a qualitative, interpretive design to analyse a dataset of 219 publicly‑available memes sourced from X, Instagram and TikTok. The study applies Thematic Discourse Analysis to uncover recurring patterns. Three dominant themes were identified: (1) Digital Patriotism, where memes replicate the morale‑boosting function of historic war songs and construct a shared Pakistani identity, (2) Meme Warfare as Counter‑Narrative, featuring satire, ridicule and debunking of Indian military and media narratives to undermine adversary credibility, and (3) Humor and Satire as Emotional Coping, which normalise the conflict, reduce public anxiety and provide collective psychological relief. The findings demonstrate that memes operate simultaneously as tools of propaganda, counter‑propaganda and non‑kinetic psychological warfare. The research concludes that scholars and strategists must recognise memes as an evolving dimension of hybrid warfare and suggests systematic monitoring of cross‑border digital propaganda to mitigate escalation risks.