Pro-Indian 'fake websites targeted decision makers in Europe'

[HammerHead081]

A global network of pro-Indian fake websites and think-tanks is aimed at influencing decision-making in Europe, researchers say.

The co-ordinated network of 265 sites operates across 65 countries, according to a report by EU Disinfo Lab, a Brussels-based NGO,

The researchers traced the websites to an Indian company, Srivastava Group.

The network was also found to involve groups responsible for anti-Pakistan lobbying events in Europe.

There's no evidence it is linked to India's government.

But researchers believe the network's purpose is to disseminate propaganda against India's neighbour and rival Pakistan. Both countries have long sought to control the narrative against each other.

"More than the fake media outlets alone, it is their combination with the fake NGOs that's really worrying because it provides a mirage of online and grassroots support to a cause. That's exactly where the disinformation lies," Alexandre Alaphilippe, executive director of EU Disinfo Lab, told the BBC.

'Zombies, green aliens and blue ghosts'
EU Disinfo Lab's investigation started by looking at EP Today, a website which claimed to be an online magazine for the European Parliament in Brussels.

In October, the European Union's disinformation task force revealed that EP Today had been re-publishing a large amount of news directly from Russia Today and Voice of America.

Some suspected Russian interference, but EU Disinfo Lab, which is an independent NGO, traced the servers behind the website to Srivastava Group.

The researchers then uncovered a vast network of English language fake sites serving India's lobbying interests.
Many of the fake websites use names of defunct newspapers to provide a veneer of credibility. EU Disinfo Lab have dubbed these "zombie" sites, because the names were resurrected from dead media outlets.

For example, one of the sites is called Manchester Times. Its "About Us" section uses text copied from a Wikipedia entry about a newspaper with the same name.

But it omits an important part of the Wikipedia description, which states: "The newspaper's last issue appeared on 22 July 1922." It also fails to declare the website's links to Indian interests.

Read more at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-50749764

 

[Naya Pakistan]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-50749764
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-50749764
Pro-Indian 'fake websites targeted decision makers in Europe'
By Flora Carmichael & Abid HussainBBC World Service

• 5 hours ago

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A global network of pro-Indian fake websites and think-tanks is aimed at influencing decision-making in Europe, researchers say.

The co-ordinated network of 265 sites operates across 65 countries, according to a report by EU Disinfo Lab, a Brussels-based NGO,

The researchers traced the websites to an Indian company, Srivastava Group.

The network was also found to involve groups responsible for anti-Pakistan lobbying events in Europe.

There's no evidence it is linked to India's government.

But researchers believe the network's purpose is to disseminate propaganda against India's neighbour and rival Pakistan. Both countries have long sought to control the narrative against each other.


Image captionThe websites sprinkled anti-Pakistan content amongst stories about world news and sport
"More than the fake media outlets alone, it is their combination with the fake NGOs that's really worrying because it provides a mirage of online and grassroots support to a cause. That's exactly where the disinformation lies," Alexandre Alaphilippe, executive director of EU Disinfo Lab, told the BBC.

'Zombies, green aliens and blue ghosts'
EU Disinfo Lab's investigation started by looking at EP Today, a website which claimed to be an online magazine for the European Parliament in Brussels.

In October, the European Union's disinformation task force revealed that EP Today had been re-publishing a large amount of news directly from Russia Today and Voice of America.

Some suspected Russian interference, but EU Disinfo Lab, which is an independent NGO, traced the servers behind the website to Srivastava Group.

The researchers then uncovered a vast network of English language fake sites serving India's lobbying interests.

Image copyrightEU DISINFO LAB
Image captionEU Disinfo Lab uses skulls and cross bones to represent "zombie" sites, green aliens for made-up names and blue ghosts are misleading titles
Many of the fake websites use names of defunct newspapers to provide a veneer of credibility. EU Disinfo Lab have dubbed these "zombie" sites, because the names were resurrected from dead media outlets.

For example, one of the sites is called Manchester Times. Its "About Us" section uses text copied from a Wikipedia entry about a newspaper with the same name.

But it omits an important part of the Wikipedia description, which states: "The newspaper's last issue appeared on 22 July 1922." It also fails to declare the website's links to Indian interests.


Image captionThis and other sites look like local news outlets, but are secretly controlled by servers linked to the Srivastava Group
Six of the sites use misleading names, like "Times of Los Angeles" instead of the better known "Los Angeles Times".

The websites all copy syndicated content from news organisations to make them look like real news sites. They then plant anti-Pakistan stories and opinion pieces from employees of NGOs linked to the network to serve India's lobbying interests, researchers found.

The Times of Geneva is one of the most sophisticated websites in the network, and creates a lot of video content. Its activities appear to target decision makers at the UN.

The website hasn't been updated since 19 November, a few days after EU Disinfo Lab first announced its discovery of the network.

The BBC tried calling the phone number on the Times of Geneva's website, but it has been cut off. Its YouTube channel has been disabled and its Twitter account suspended.

Image copyrightEU DISINFO LAB
Image captionInterviews with lobbyists, MEPs and representatives of NGOs critical of Pakistan appeared on Times of Geneva's YouTube channel
Mr Alaphilippe believes the network was created to influence international institutions and elected representatives.

"We think the main goal was to be able to reach policymakers in Brussels and Geneva, without being able to trace back to those behind the manipulative network. And this worked!" he told the BBC.

"MEPs [Members of the European Parliament] have engaged directly with this network on a multitude of levels, whether that's been through writing op-eds for their media, participating in overseas trips and press conferences, or by speaking in the European Parliament on behalf of the cause."

Ray Serrato, an open source investigator with a focus on disinformation, noted how little social media traction the network generated.

In an email to the BBC, he says what struck him was that "somebody went to pains to set up hundreds of inauthentic sites to bolster coverage of issues aligned with India's interests, and then used (unwitting?) European MPs to lend legitimacy to some of those sites".

"The real-life implications are that officials can be hand-fed and regurgitate specific talking points, completely unaware about how they got them."

The EU Disinfo Lab report highlights various organisations which appear to be closely connected, which have been organising "protests and conferences every year during UN Human Rights Council sessions". They focus on campaigns to criticise Pakistan for the state of minorities and persecuted groups in the country.

One group identified in the network, the European Organisation for Pakistani Minorities (EOPM), organised a protest in front of the UN in 2016, and a conference held in the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Image copyrightMOFA
Image captionEOPM put posters in Geneva which contained the message "Save the Minorities in Pakistan"
In 2017 posters with the message "Free Balochistan" and other slogans supporting minorities in Pakistan appeared on streets in Geneva, resulting in Pakistani authorities summoning the Swiss Ambassador to demand the removal of the posters.

The EU Disinfo Lab report highlights that this year, a campaign was launched in front of the United Nations office in Geneva about Balochistan. The protest used the hashtag #PakistanStopGenocide, with speeches made by various individuals named in the report. It was extensively covered in media outlets in the network, such as the Times of Geneva.

India has also been on the receiving end of critical outdoor advertising in Europe. Earlier this year, during the Cricket World Cup in England, banners were seen flying over the stadium during India's match against Sri Lanka at Headingley, Leeds, with messages such as "Justice for Kashmir" and "India Stop Genocide and Free Kashmir".

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionPlanes flew over 2019 Cricket World Cup matches towing both anti-Pakistan and anti-India slogans
Animosity between Pakistan and India has resulted in three all-out wars, and numerous skirmishes across the border, the most recent of which took place in February this year.

The battle to construct an effective narrative and gain international support has long been fought online as well as offline.

Ten years ago, a now-dormant Pakistani blog, Café Pyala, unearthed a network of publications that were hawkishly pro-Pakistan and virulently anti-India.

It found a similar modus operandi, where the news outlets "reference and promote each other constantly", with misleading names such as "Times of Bombay, The Delhi Times, and Dacca Times".

Unlike its anti-Indian predecessor, the anti-Pakistan network revealed by EU Disinfo Lab has a strong presence in European cities such as Brussels, Geneva and Strasbourg, co-ordinating demonstrations and a social media campaign.

Who is behind the network?
Through shared phone numbers and an office address in Brussels, as well as shared web servers, EU Disinfo Lab found Srivastava Group to be at the heart of the network.

Srivastava Group is an Indian holding company which declares on its website that it has "interests in Natural resources, Clean energy, Airspace, Consulting services, Healthcare, Print Media and Publishing".

One of Srivastava Group's subsidiaries, the International Institute for Non-Aligned Studies (IINS), sponsored a controversial visit to Indian-administered Kashmir for right-wing MEPs in October.


Image captionSrivastava Group's headquarters appeared unoccupied
The IINS is based at the same address in Delhi as Srivastava Group and an obscure media outlet called New Delhi Times.

• Outrage over right-wing Euro-MPs' visit to Kashmir
• Kashmir: Why India and Pakistan fight over it
• Kashmir users kicked off WhatsApp

BBC News Hindi reporter Kirti Dubey visited the address and was told by a security guard there was no office in the building. A neighbour who had lived in the area for 40 years told her he had never seen anyone in the house. Srivastava Group did not respond to the BBC's attempts to request comment by phone and email.

When Indian media reported the publication of EU Disinfo Lab's initial findings in November, the New Delhi Times' editor in chief Ankit Srivastava tweeted that Pakistan's intelligence services were trying to tarnish him, although he provided no evidence.

 

[Naya Pakistan]

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5366591

In an interview with CBC News, Fatah said that he was aware his columns were being republished in the New Delhi Times and said Srivastava paid him a small fee for it, though he declined to specify how much.

"Mr. Fatah is a freelance opinion columnist. Freelancers can generally resell their work after its publication in the Sun to non-competing markets, subject to the terms of their agreements with us," said Phyllise Gelfand, the vice-president of communications for Postmedia, in an email.

In an interview with CBC News, Fatah said that he was aware his columns were being republished in the New Delhi Times, a newspaper linked to a group with ties to a huge international network of fake news websites.
Fatah was also listed as the executive director of an NGO called Baluchistan (sic) House, described as a think-tank focusing on the Balochistan province of Pakistan. The region has seen ongoing insurgencies against the Pakistani government by Baloch groups seeking independence.

The now-defunct Baluchistan House website was registered by Ankit Srivastava, as were other sites seemingly built for Fatah, such as whatthefatah.com and whatthefatah.net, which never published any content.

According to Fatah, the What the Fatah project is a proposed video series featuring him that he's working on with Srivastava, while the Baluchistan House website registration may have come from an exiled Baloch leader living in London.

"I was merely involved and it never really took off, the Baluchistan House forum," he said.

Fatah's Baluchistan House organized a panel in 2017 in Geneva, where he appeared alongside Polish MEP Ryszard Czarnecki to discuss Balochistan's economic situation. Czarnecki, a conservative politician critical of Pakistan and supportive of India, was amongst the MEPs who visited Kashmir in October.

Fatah said he was not involved with the visit and did not help facilitate it. He also said that while he had met Czarnecki a few times in UN meetings, he didn't speak or meet with Czarnecki outside of that.

Fatah said he was not aware that Srivastava was running a network of fake news sites.

"Why would he do that?" said Fatah, adding it must be "some ridiculous Indian bureaucrat's idea of propaganda."

Concordia's Schofield said the network's promotion of Baloch interests clearly marks it as serving the Indian government's interests. He says that India has been supporting Balochistan independence as a way to put pressure on Pakistan.

"This is definitely political. It's basically an open secret that the Indians have been helping the Baloch," he said. "If [Ankit Srivastava] is doing this type of thing, that's what you'd call a siren alert," that he's in line with the government's policies.

Fatah said he wasn't worried about his columns being used to promote pro-India views.

"Oh, I am unashamedly pro-India. If somebody uses my writing to be pro-India, hallelujah. India is the only place that will save this universe. You can quote me on that," he said.

Described in some quarters as a very ugly ‘rectum’

 

[maximuswarrior]

Basically paid content and the discovery was made by a respectable, independent and impartial European watchdog. India is getting slammed and shamed by the minute. Mass rape, mass lies, mass lynchings, mass killings and mass cow vigilantism. RSS is turning India into a zoo and I like it. LOL look at what Modi did to Indian economy. It is doomsday scenario for India. I want more RSS in Hindustan. I want more Modi.

India is getting shamed by its own allies. India has to beg France for Rafale to save the day LOL

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

Described in some quarters as a very ugly ‘rectum’!
Lmao

 

[maximuswarrior]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-50749764
Pro-Indian 'fake websites targeted decision makers in Europe'
By Flora Carmichael & Abid HussainBBC World Service

• 5 hours ago

• Share this with Facebook
  
• Share this with WhatsApp
  
• Share this with Messenger
  
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• Share

A global network of pro-Indian fake websites and think-tanks is aimed at influencing decision-making in Europe, researchers say.

The co-ordinated network of 265 sites operates across 65 countries, according to a report by EU Disinfo Lab, a Brussels-based NGO,

The researchers traced the websites to an Indian company, Srivastava Group.

The network was also found to involve groups responsible for anti-Pakistan lobbying events in Europe.

There's no evidence it is linked to India's government.

But researchers believe the network's purpose is to disseminate propaganda against India's neighbour and rival Pakistan. Both countries have long sought to control the narrative against each other.


Image captionThe websites sprinkled anti-Pakistan content amongst stories about world news and sport
"More than the fake media outlets alone, it is their combination with the fake NGOs that's really worrying because it provides a mirage of online and grassroots support to a cause. That's exactly where the disinformation lies," Alexandre Alaphilippe, executive director of EU Disinfo Lab, told the BBC.

'Zombies, green aliens and blue ghosts'
EU Disinfo Lab's investigation started by looking at EP Today, a website which claimed to be an online magazine for the European Parliament in Brussels.

In October, the European Union's disinformation task force revealed that EP Today had been re-publishing a large amount of news directly from Russia Today and Voice of America.

Some suspected Russian interference, but EU Disinfo Lab, which is an independent NGO, traced the servers behind the website to Srivastava Group.

The researchers then uncovered a vast network of English language fake sites serving India's lobbying interests.

Image copyrightEU DISINFO LAB
Image captionEU Disinfo Lab uses skulls and cross bones to represent "zombie" sites, green aliens for made-up names and blue ghosts are misleading titles
Many of the fake websites use names of defunct newspapers to provide a veneer of credibility. EU Disinfo Lab have dubbed these "zombie" sites, because the names were resurrected from dead media outlets.

For example, one of the sites is called Manchester Times. Its "About Us" section uses text copied from a Wikipedia entry about a newspaper with the same name.

But it omits an important part of the Wikipedia description, which states: "The newspaper's last issue appeared on 22 July 1922." It also fails to declare the website's links to Indian interests.


Image captionThis and other sites look like local news outlets, but are secretly controlled by servers linked to the Srivastava Group
Six of the sites use misleading names, like "Times of Los Angeles" instead of the better known "Los Angeles Times".

The websites all copy syndicated content from news organisations to make them look like real news sites. They then plant anti-Pakistan stories and opinion pieces from employees of NGOs linked to the network to serve India's lobbying interests, researchers found.

The Times of Geneva is one of the most sophisticated websites in the network, and creates a lot of video content. Its activities appear to target decision makers at the UN.

The website hasn't been updated since 19 November, a few days after EU Disinfo Lab first announced its discovery of the network.

The BBC tried calling the phone number on the Times of Geneva's website, but it has been cut off. Its YouTube channel has been disabled and its Twitter account suspended.

Image copyrightEU DISINFO LAB
Image captionInterviews with lobbyists, MEPs and representatives of NGOs critical of Pakistan appeared on Times of Geneva's YouTube channel
Mr Alaphilippe believes the network was created to influence international institutions and elected representatives.

"We think the main goal was to be able to reach policymakers in Brussels and Geneva, without being able to trace back to those behind the manipulative network. And this worked!" he told the BBC.

"MEPs [Members of the European Parliament] have engaged directly with this network on a multitude of levels, whether that's been through writing op-eds for their media, participating in overseas trips and press conferences, or by speaking in the European Parliament on behalf of the cause."

Ray Serrato, an open source investigator with a focus on disinformation, noted how little social media traction the network generated.

In an email to the BBC, he says what struck him was that "somebody went to pains to set up hundreds of inauthentic sites to bolster coverage of issues aligned with India's interests, and then used (unwitting?) European MPs to lend legitimacy to some of those sites".

"The real-life implications are that officials can be hand-fed and regurgitate specific talking points, completely unaware about how they got them."

The EU Disinfo Lab report highlights various organisations which appear to be closely connected, which have been organising "protests and conferences every year during UN Human Rights Council sessions". They focus on campaigns to criticise Pakistan for the state of minorities and persecuted groups in the country.

One group identified in the network, the European Organisation for Pakistani Minorities (EOPM), organised a protest in front of the UN in 2016, and a conference held in the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Image copyrightMOFA
Image captionEOPM put posters in Geneva which contained the message "Save the Minorities in Pakistan"
In 2017 posters with the message "Free Balochistan" and other slogans supporting minorities in Pakistan appeared on streets in Geneva, resulting in Pakistani authorities summoning the Swiss Ambassador to demand the removal of the posters.

The EU Disinfo Lab report highlights that this year, a campaign was launched in front of the United Nations office in Geneva about Balochistan. The protest used the hashtag #PakistanStopGenocide, with speeches made by various individuals named in the report. It was extensively covered in media outlets in the network, such as the Times of Geneva.

India has also been on the receiving end of critical outdoor advertising in Europe. Earlier this year, during the Cricket World Cup in England, banners were seen flying over the stadium during India's match against Sri Lanka at Headingley, Leeds, with messages such as "Justice for Kashmir" and "India Stop Genocide and Free Kashmir".

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionPlanes flew over 2019 Cricket World Cup matches towing both anti-Pakistan and anti-India slogans
Animosity between Pakistan and India has resulted in three all-out wars, and numerous skirmishes across the border, the most recent of which took place in February this year.

The battle to construct an effective narrative and gain international support has long been fought online as well as offline.

Ten years ago, a now-dormant Pakistani blog, Café Pyala, unearthed a network of publications that were hawkishly pro-Pakistan and virulently anti-India.

It found a similar modus operandi, where the news outlets "reference and promote each other constantly", with misleading names such as "Times of Bombay, The Delhi Times, and Dacca Times".

Unlike its anti-Indian predecessor, the anti-Pakistan network revealed by EU Disinfo Lab has a strong presence in European cities such as Brussels, Geneva and Strasbourg, co-ordinating demonstrations and a social media campaign.

Who is behind the network?
Through shared phone numbers and an office address in Brussels, as well as shared web servers, EU Disinfo Lab found Srivastava Group to be at the heart of the network.

Srivastava Group is an Indian holding company which declares on its website that it has "interests in Natural resources, Clean energy, Airspace, Consulting services, Healthcare, Print Media and Publishing".

One of Srivastava Group's subsidiaries, the International Institute for Non-Aligned Studies (IINS), sponsored a controversial visit to Indian-administered Kashmir for right-wing MEPs in October.


Image captionSrivastava Group's headquarters appeared unoccupied
The IINS is based at the same address in Delhi as Srivastava Group and an obscure media outlet called New Delhi Times.

• Outrage over right-wing Euro-MPs' visit to Kashmir
• Kashmir: Why India and Pakistan fight over it
• Kashmir users kicked off WhatsApp

BBC News Hindi reporter Kirti Dubey visited the address and was told by a security guard there was no office in the building. A neighbour who had lived in the area for 40 years told her he had never seen anyone in the house. Srivastava Group did not respond to the BBC's attempts to request comment by phone and email.

When Indian media reported the publication of EU Disinfo Lab's initial findings in November, the New Delhi Times' editor in chief Ankit Srivastava tweeted that Pakistan's intelligence services were trying to tarnish him, although he provided no evidence.

Post the complete article. Let me post the important missing bit:

The 'Madi effect'
Madi Sharma has been identified by EU Disinfo Lab as central to the disinformation network. She has written for EP Today and the New Delhi Times as their "EU correspondent".

It was Madi Sharma who sent MEPs invitations for the controversial trip to Kashmir. She signed the invitation letters as the Founder and CEO of the Women's Economic and Social Think Tank (WESTT) and said the trip would be sponsored by the IINS.

EU Disinfo Lab found that WESTT shares some staff with EP Today and had quoted and republished content from New Delhi Times and the Times of Geneva.

Madi Sharma, far right, posed for pictures with Indian PM Narendra Modi during the MEPs' controversial Kashmir trip

Madi Sharma, who also goes by the name Madhu Sharma, is a British member of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). She was nominated for the committee by the UK Government and has been an EESC Member since 2002.

She paints herself as a successful entrepreneur, but according to the UK's Companies House website, her sole directorship in the UK is with Madi Limited, and the company is dormant.

Her book Madi - No Excuses has its own website which asks: "Have you heard about the phenomena known as the 'Madi Effect'?"

Ankit Srivastava of the New Delhi Times is also vice chairman of the Srivastava Group - and he is likely to have heard of the 'Madi Effect' because he has written her a glowing testimonial on her website.

"You know all of us at Srivastava Group and New Delhi Times appreciate you and all your work in the promotion of entrepreneurship, human rights and towards empowering others from all nations," he writes, adding: "Of course we particularly appreciate your support toward India."

This support for India and involvement in such a network of websites could be perceived as a conflict of interest for an EESC member like Madi Sharma. She did not respond to the BBC's attempts to contact her.

On her website, Madi Sharma says: "I am the representative of my brand - a registered trade mark - because if Versace and Gucci could do it, so could I!"

The committee's members are drawn from economic and social interest groups in Europe to represent the views of civil society to European institutions, including the European Parliament.

In a statement to the BBC, the EESC emphasised the independence of its members.

"The EESC does not engage in image building activities for governments and is independent from any government. [EESC Members] are to be completely independent in the performance of their duties, in the Union's general interest."

Asked what standards are expected of members, and whether lobbying on behalf of countries outside the EU is allowed, the EESC shared its new code of conduct with the BBC.

It requires "integrity, openness, diligence, honesty, accountability and respect for the Committee's reputation" and avoidance of conflicts of interest. Members do not have to sign the new code of conduct until October next year though.

"An advisory committee on the conduct of members is currently being set up and is currently working on its rules of procedure and working methods. To our knowledge Ms Sharma has not signed the new code of conduct."

The BBC tried to contact Madi Sharma and Ankit Srivastava directly and through their respective organisations, WESTT and Srivastava Group, but they did not respond.

There you have it folks. Dirty rape Indians trying to spread lies. Even in positions where they are not allowed to do that i.e. conflict of interest.

 

[Hakikat ve Hikmet]

Modi/Hindutva/RSS/BJP etc. are like god-sent for Pak!!! Please leverage this window of opportunity to the fullest....

It's like "now or never"....

 

[YeBeWarned]

these Disgusting low life scums have no shame, they will keep spreading lies until the world give them a shut up call and stop believing in their BS .

 

[maximuswarrior]

these Disgusting low life scums have no shame, they will keep spreading lies until the world give them a shut up call and stop believing in their BS .

The world told India to STFU after their F-16 lies LMAO This rape nation just wouldn't umderstand.

 

[YeBeWarned]

The world told India to STFU after their F-16 lies LMAO This rape nation just wouldn't umderstand.

RSS and BJP are lost cause, their future is very dark ..

 

[Clutch]

Indian network behind disinformation campaigns against Pakistan exposed

Ramsha JahangirUpdated December 17, 2019
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A European group has uncovered a network of obscure NGOs and think tanks that assist over 200 ‘fake’ news outlets managed by an Indian network to influence the European Union and the United Nations with content critical of Pakistan. — Reuters/File
KARACHI: A European group has uncovered a network of obscure NGOs and think tanks that assist over 200 ‘fake’ news outlets managed by an Indian network to influence the European Union and the United Nations with content critical of Pakistan.

The ‘EU DisinfoLab’ is focused on researching and tackling sophisticated disinformation campaigns targeting the EU, its member states, core institutions and core values.

The non-governmental group in its initial findings earlier in November had uncovered a network of 265 ‘fake’ news outlets managed by an Indian network to influence the EU and the UN with content critical of Pakistan.

During the investigation, the DisinfoLab found that the fake websites copy-pasted anti-Pakistan content from unusual press agencies and amplified material shared by politicians and obscure think tanks that supported Indian geopolitical interests.

ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER AD
EU DisinfoLab releases complete report, finding 265 ‘fake’ news outlets influencing EU, UN

They republished anti-Pakistan content on the rest of the Indian network including fake outlets such as EP Today, Times of Geneva, and New Delhi Times. Most websites had Twitter presence as well.

The investigation discovered that the news outlets were managed by Indian stakeholders, with ties to a large network of think tanks, NGOs, and companies from the Srivastava Group.

Offline efforts with ‘fake NGOs’

In its full report released on Monday, the EU DisinfoLab also detailed offline efforts of the Indian network assisted by ‘fake’ NGOs and organisations responsible for anti-Pakistan lobbying events in Europe. The events were then given media coverage by the ‘fake’ news outlets.

The report also highlighted various obscure groups that had been coordinating demonstrations and social media campaigns against Pakistan every year during UN Human Rights Council sessions. They used the hashtag for Human Right Council’s live broadcast on each occasion.

According to the report, behind all the campaigns organised in Geneva against Pakistan on the subject of the treatment of minorities were the organisations – EOPM (European Organisation for Pakistani Minorities) and VOPM (Voice of Pakistani Minorities).

The issues raised in the campaigns were meant to steer criticism towards Pakistan for the state of minorities and persecuted groups in the country.

For instance in March 2017, the EOPM organised a three-day photo exhibition in Onex to highlight the issue of “atrocities” against Christians in Pakistan. Later in September 2017, a campaign titled #StopPakistan was launched to raise women’s rights in the country during the 36th session of the UN Human Rights Council.

The organization also issued a press release on the campaign. It reads: “The initiative has been taken during the 36th session of Human Rights Council in Geneva by Pakistani Women Human Rights Organisation and European Organisation for Pakistani minorities (EOPM). The European Organisation for Pakistani Minorities, an NGO, has displayed its posters on taxi bikes.”

The group also organised the #PakistanStopGenocide campaign on September 10, 2019, in front of the United Nations in Geneva, while the 42nd session of UN Human Rights Council was under way.

This campaign was about Balochistan and as had been the case with the other ones, it involved pitching a tent, having the hashtag in big letters in front of the UN in Geneva, and speeches and conferences by members of the network.

The report found that some Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) had engaged directly with the Indian network through various channels such as contributing to their media coverage, participation in conferences or by speaking in the European Parliament on behalf of their cause.

One such individual mentioned in the report is Madi Sharma, who also goes by the name Madhu Sharma, a British member of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) since 2002. She has written for EP Today and the New Delhi Times as their “EU correspondent”. She also sent MEPs invitations for a controversial trip to Occupied Kashmir amid ongoing restrictions.

Media coverage of such campaigns

The investigation found that these demonstrations were covered by the network of fake news outlets run by the Indian company, Srivastava Group.

In fact all of these websites had copy-pasted the same content from the very same sources, with those being EP Today, Times of Geneva, 4newsAgency, and New Delhi Times.

On April 30, 2019, 51 MEPs issued a collective letter addressed to Prime Minister Imran Khan, expressing their concerns and seeking assurances that the persecution of religious minorities would cease immediately. The letter and the signatories were published on EP Today.

From studying the content of one of the fake news outlets Times of Geneva, the European group’s report observed that themes and style of the demonstrations that they covered were similar and focused to discredit Pakistan such as campaigns to “stop [insert minority] genocide”, were held at the same time as UN Human Rights Council sessions, and complimented by Times of Geneva side-line interviews on the demonstrations with the same reoccurring figures.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2019

 

[maximuswarrior]

• Full name: SHARMA, Madi
• Founder and director of the Madi Group; public speaker and expert in entrepreneurship, female entrepreneurship, social innovation, diversity, gender balance and CSR
• Group: Employers' Group (Group I)
• Sections:
  • Section for External Relations
  • Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship
• Web sites: http://entrepreneurenvoy.org/ http://extraordinary-education.org/ http://madisharma.org http://westt.eu/
• Name of the alternate: DHAPI, Spiro
• Languages: English, French, German, Hindi
• Represented Country: United Kingdom
• Member of the European Economic and Social Committee since: 21/09/2002
• Biography:
  "MADI Group" - Make A Difference Ideas Group of International Private and Social Enterprises and NGOs Local Action – Global Impact Madi is an Entrepreneur who founded and runs the Madi Group, a group of International private sector & not fo...
• Areas of interest:
  • Budget
  • Development
  • Education, training, youth
  • Employment and social affairs
  • Enterprise
  • External relations
  • External trade
  • Human rights
  • Research and innovation
  • Public health

https://memberspage.eesc.europa.eu/Search/Details/Person/2014544?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

https://mobile.twitter.com/madisharma1?locale=nl

Her Twitter feed reveals a lot. Very obsessive with lies regarding Pakistan. A lot of fake propaganda on Pashtun and Baloch. LOL also look at which anti-Pak crazies she keeps retweeting on her page. That American bastard Lawrence Sellin is also making the retweets.

 

[Imran Khan]

Isi should hunt them

 

[Manidabest]

Hahaha indians r having bad luck

 

[HAIDER]

Here is the info