A large campaign spreading disinformation and fake news was uncovered in an investigation conducted by a European group, EU DisinfoLab. The exposed network was a part of Indian propaganda against the rival countries-especially Pakistan.
Several identities including a dead professor and human rights defender, Louis B Sohn were also stolen by a network ‘Indian chronicles’ (name given by the investigators) to serve the interest of India as it was targeting international organizations like EU and UN and countries like China and Pakistan. Prof. Louis B Sohn died in 2006 but he was mentioned by the websites as the participant of various events even after his death.
Last year, the group also exposed 265 pro-Indian sites operating from 65 different countries, supervised by a Delhi-based company, the Srivastava Group (SG).
According to the investigation report:
The operation’s mission is to discredit nations in conflict with India in Asia, in particular Pakistan but also China to a lesser extent. Its long-term objective is:
- In India, to reinforce pro-Indian and anti-Pakistan (and anti-Chinese) feelings.
- Internationally, to consolidate the power and improve the perception of India, to damage the reputation of other countries and ultimately benefit from more support from international institutions such as the EU and the UN
Indian Chronicles is regarded as a massive operation, based on 750+ fake media outlets from 119 countries which have been running disinformation campaigns since 2005, revealed by the report. However, the report has found no evidence that the network is linked to the Indian Government.
EU DisinfoLab is an independent non-profit organisation focused on tackling sophisticated disinformation campaigns targeting the EU and its member states
