The Ministry of Defense has launched action against over 80 social media pages and vloggers for issuing unverified weather forecasts without proper certification, warning that such misinformation can cause public panic and confusion.
According to an official memo, popular pages like Weather Walay, Pakistan Doppler, and Weather Updates PK have been found releasing non-official weather alerts in violation of national and international meteorological standards. The ministry emphasized that the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) is the only authorized body to issue weather forecasts and alerts in the country.
The Defense Ministry has asked the Ministries of Information and IT to direct regulators to curb the spread of fake or misleading weather reports. Officials said that private individuals lack scientific training and their equipment does not meet World Meteorological Organization (WMO) calibration standards, which undermines PMD’s credibility and affects disaster management efforts.
The ministry also urged all media outlets and broadcasters to rely solely on PMD’s verified data and refrain from promoting unofficial forecasts.
“Only PMD’s certified forecasts should guide the public unauthorized predictions risk misinformation and public unrest,” stated a ministry spokesperson.