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As images of Capt Smit Macchar’s lacerated scalp surfaced, Dhruv Rathee again faced backlash for claiming in a now-deleted video that "people are saying this is a false flag operation." In his defense, Rathee argued he was merely quoting others. This is classic rhetorical framing used to introduce a conspiracy theory and inject baseless claims into public discourse while maintaining plausible deniability. For an influencer with millions of followers, this is logically flawed and socially irresponsible. The distinction between making an assertion directly and framing it as an external rumor is negligible in terms of audience impact; the moment he amplified an unfounded "false flag" narrative, even wrapped in neutral framing, he granted it visibility and unearned credibility, planting seeds of doubt without taking accountability. It would have been acceptable had he immediately debunked those rumors as false, baseless conspiracy theories after quoting them. But he didn't. Instead, he simply stated that people were calling it a false flag and suggested waiting for the investigation to find out, leaving an unfounded conspiracy on equal footing with facts. Imagine a scenario where the world is battling a severe pandemic similar to COVID-19, and a creator states, "People are saying 80% of the world's population will be wiped out, but let's see if it's true or not." It would create immense panic among everyday viewers who trust him, even if he relies on plausible deniability. There is a clear reason why he ultimately had to delete that video.