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On January 22, Pakistan confirmed its first polio case of 2025 in Dera Ismail Khan. Half of the cases recorded in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa last year were in the DI Khan district. News coverage of the case highlights the country’s failure to eliminate polio “despite spending billions of dollars” to do so. Many social media users responded to the news by accusing the government of profiting from polio, claiming that the disease will never be eliminated as long as the country receives polio funding. Some posts list polio eradication alongside government corruption and terrorism as threats to Pakistan. Others claim Pakistanis are being targeted for experimentation and extinction.

Reports are circulating online about several groups of people who are boycotting polio vaccination campaigns in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. One boycott was organized by tribal leaders in Lakki Marwat in support of the families of the factory workers kidnapped by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan group. The tribal leaders also threatened to hold widespread protests and block a gas pipeline into Punjab until the abductees were returned. Other groups proposed boycotts to pressure the government to restore access to electricity and gas. Finally, local news outlets reported that female polio workers in the province were conducting a boycott, a claim that the workers disputed as baseless and a conspiracy to create a rift between them and the government.

Several social media posts opposing drug use in Pakistan claim that polio drops are “administered at gunpoint.” Identical posts have circulated online periodically for years.

Conspiracy theories about polio eradication efforts circulated online following reports of the detection of additional polio cases in Pakistan in 2024. Several social media users accused the government of lying about polio and refusing to eliminate polio in order to continue receiving international funding, while others questioned why polio eradication is a priority when other diseases kill more people. Some posts disparaged polio vaccines, blamed Afghan refugees and ethnic minorities for polio spread, and claimed polio is a conspiracy against Pakistanis.

On January 8, Pakistan reported its first polio case of 2025. Additionally, the country confirmed three polio cases and positive wastewater samples in 17 districts, all from the last two weeks of 2024. The new cases bring last year’s total to 74, sparking an online debate about the necessity and safety of polio vaccines in the country. Several posts suggest that polio will never be eliminated in Pakistan as long as the country continues to receive international funding. Other posts claim that vaccines are being used to spread polio and discourage parents from vaccinating their children. Some dismiss news coverage of polio cases as “propaganda.” One popular post with over 3 million views and 25,000 engagements encouraged people in the region to avoid polio by drinking water. The post, which has been shared on multiple social media platforms, claims that polio and other diseases are caused by not drinking enough water.

A January 5 social media post from a person claiming to be an Indonesian physician continues to circulate and generate conversations about the cause of disease outbreaks. The post claims that disease outbreaks, including polio and bird flu, are the result of the release of synthetic viruses. It has received over 200 responses, including dozens in the last week. Recent responses claim that vaccination is part of a depopulation plot and dismiss recent disease outbreaks as hoaxes, a “plandemic,” and part of a “pandemic of fear.” 

In late December, claims began circulating that two new suspected polio cases were identified in Gaza. The story circulated on social media, as one user criticized the “clumsy placebo” polio vaccination campaign. One commenter claimed that people in Gaza should refuse the vaccine because it causes polio.

A video clip circulating online claims to show parents being arrested for refusing to allow their child to get vaccinated. The clip garnered outrage from people who expressed distrust in polio workers, claimed that polio vaccines are a “scam,” and insisted that polio eradication efforts are a Western agenda.