15-year-old disinformation operation serving Indian interests, undermining Pakistan in EU — report

A European flag flutters inside the European Union headquarters in Brussels 22 March 2006. (AFP/File)

• Operation’s mission is to discredit nations in conflict with India in Asia, in particular Pakistan but also China, EU DisinfoLab says
• More than 750 fake media outlets, covering 119 countries and over 550 registered domain names used in the operation

ISLAMABAD: EU DisinfoLab, an independent non-profit organization focused on tackling disinformation campaigns targeting the EU and its member states, has uncovered a 15-year-operation active in Brussels and Geneva and producing and amplifying content to undermine Pakistan and serve Indian interests, the organization said in an investigation report.
Last year, EU DisinfoLab uncovered a network of 265 fake media in 65 countries reproducing “negative content” about Pakistan online. This network was created by actors behind “EP Today”, a fake European Parliament magazine active in Brussels since 2006.
The organization picked up its investigation once more in recent months — dubbed the Indian Chronicles — and “uncovered an entire network of coordinated UN-accredited NGOs promoting Indian interests and criticizing Pakistan repeatedly,” EU DisinfoLab said on its website.
In a nutshell, the non-profit said Indian Chronicles had uncovered: a 15 year-long operation running since 2005; more than ten UN Human Rights Council accredited NGOs, mostly resurrected; the resurrection of Prof. Louis B. Sohn, a prominent figure in human rights who died in 2006; several instances of identity thefts, including the name of Martin Schulz, former president of the European Parliament; more than 750 fake media outlets, covering 119 countries; and over 550 registered domain names.
EU DisinfoLab did not say if the operation had official complicity of the Indian government.
“Our open-source investigation shows that the operation led by the Srivastava Group and amplified by ANI [Indian news agency] began in 2005 and is still ongoing at this date,” EU DisinfoLab said. “The operation’s mission is to discredit nations in conflict with India in Asia, in particular Pakistan but also China to a lesser extent.”
The long-term objective of the operation, the non-profit said, was “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.”
To do so, the operation consists of: “The support to minority and human rights NGOs and think-tanks. The use of Members of the European Parliament to create a mirage of institutional support from European institutions to these minority groups, in favor of Indian interests and against Pakistan (and China). An active presence in Geneva and the United Nations’ Human Rights Council through: side-events and demonstrations in support of minority rights; impersonation of extinguished UN-accredited NGOs or use speaking slots reserved to various NGOs whose original missions seem totally unrelated. The creation of fake media in Brussels, Geneva and across the world and/or the repackaging and dissemination via ANI and obscure local media networks – at least in 97 countries – to multiply the repetition of online negative content about countries in conflict with India, in particular Pakistan.”