Busted: India link behind 265 fake websites spreading anti-Pak propaganda in 65 countries

Indian connection traced to firm that funded the visit of 27 MEPs to Kashmir

fake-news-computer-keyboard-shut All the websites have been republishing anti-Pak content from an Indian network of publications | File

A recent study by a fake news busting NGO in Brussels has uncovered Indian links to 265 fake websites propagating anti-Pakistan news in 65 countries, including the US, Canada, Belgium and Switzerland. According to the report by the researchers at the EU Disinfo Lab, many of these fake news websites, named after existing or defunct media sites, republish content from several news agencies including North Korea's KCNA, Voice of America and Interfax.

Some of the fake websites go by the names themirrorofaustralia.com, thetimesofceylon.com, thehoovergazette.com, theseattlestar.com, miamivalleychannel.com, timesofgeneva.com and the dublingazette.com. While one website has been named after the New York Morning Telegraph, which shut shop in 1972, another one is called the Times of Los Angeles, close enough to the Los Angeles Times.

The EU Disinfo Lab study was able to effectively establish that all the websites gave coverage of the same Indian-related demonstrations and events and republished anti-Pakistan content from an Indian network of publications—EP Today, 4NewsAgency, Times Of Geneva and New Delhi Times. The report noted that timesofgeneva.com—an online “newspaper” that is “approaching 35 years in business”— publishes the same type of content as EP Today and produces videos covering events and demonstrations criticising Pakistan’s role in the Kashmir conflict.

It is to be noted that EP Today had made headlines last month when a carefully cherry-picked group of MEPs visited Jammu and Kashmir following an invitation from an obscure think-tank named the International Institute for Non-Aligned Studies (IINS). A self-proclaimed magazine for the European Parliament, EP Today was filled with content from Russian state-run outlet Russia Today.

On further probe, EU Disinfo Lab was able to decisively link the Srivastava Group—stakeholders in both EP Today and New Delhi Times and the entity behind IINS—to all the fake news websites. Delhi-based Srivastava Group had also helped fund the controversial visit of the mostly far-right members to Kashmir. IINS, which also promised the MEPs a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had aroused curiosity among political observers and was at the heart of the controversy.

The study established that EP Today and Times of Geneva have "extremely strong ties" with NGOs such as the European Organisation for Pakistani Minorities (EOPM) and Pakistani Women’s Human Rights Organisation, who are behind the anti-Pakistan demonstrations taking place in Europe. Further, the study claims that the network of websites had similar registration addresses, email addresses or domain names. "Specifically, the websites of these NGOs and think-tanks are hosted on the same servers and/or staff have worked for one of these previous organisations while publishing articles for EP Today. We also proved that the two influence networks (in Brussels and Geneva) were interconnected by discovering links between website registration addresses, email addresses, and domain names," the report clarifies.

The researchers believe that these fake media outlets have been deployed to influence and sway public perception and "international institutions and elected representatives with coverage of specific events and demonstrations" in favour of India. By adding several layers of media outlets that quote and republish one another, it will make it harder for the reader to trace the manipulation and in turn, offer a “mirage” of international support.