The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) announced on Wednesday that it had registered a case against PTI MNA Shandana Gulzar under Pakistan’s cybercrime laws for allegedly spreading false information regarding Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recent visit to Egypt for the signing of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

Prime Minister Shehbaz was present at the Sharm el-Sheikh Peace Summit in Egypt earlier in the month where a peace agreement to end the genocide in Gaza was signed. He also met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia and President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan.

The fact-checking organization iVerify Pakistan claims that since October 13, numerous posts, primarily from PTI supporters, have gone viral on social media platform X, falsely claiming to show PM Shehbaz with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the summit. These posts featured a blurry, low-quality photo of the prime minister's meeting with the Armenian premier. Netanyahu did not attend the event.

Gulzar also reposted the image with the same claim in a now-deleted post that read: “Article 6! Treason! Pakistan does not recognise Israel let alone a genocidal murderer like Netanyahu.” 

“I have deleted my tweet on Shehbaz Sharif’s meeting with Netanyahu as the picture is not 100 percent clear,” she later clarified in a follow-up post. 

The PTI lawmaker went on to allege: “What is 200pc clear and proof is available with ‘concerned’ people, a meeting was arranged between Shehbaz 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.” 

Soon after, Gulzar shared a copy of the first information report (FIR) filed against her at the NCCIA Cyber Crime Reporting Centre. The complaint, submitted by Technical Assistant Aneesur Rehman, was registered under Sections 11 (hate speech), 20 (offences against dignity of a natural person), and 26A (punishment for false and fake information) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016.

The FIR cited her X posts accusing the prime minister of meeting Netanyahu, among other related content.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the NCCIA said that investigations had found that the PTI MNA had circulated “several fake and misleading tweets and videos.”

“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,” the NCCIA said.

It further stated that “investigations confirmed that the accused deliberately advanced an anti-state narrative through fake news,” adding that efforts were underway to trace “other individuals and accomplices behind the anti-state campaign.”