Network of NGOs abused UNHRC for 15 years, claims EU NGO

Brussels: An independent investigation into disinformation has reportedly uncovered a massive operation involving fake media outlets, think tanks and NGOs serving Indian interests by producing negative content about China and Pakistan online.

The entire operation, called by the investigators as Indian Chronicles, had begun in 2005 and is still going on, the report said.

The investigation done by EU Disinfolab, a private NGO, whose declared mission is to raise awareness on disinformation, claimed that the largest network of disinformation exposed so far was ran with a key objective of undermining Pakistan internationally.

The investigation revealed that the operation was done by New Delhi-based Srivastava Group which sponsored the trip of 27 MEPs to visit Kashmir, and met with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after the state's special status was repealed in August 2019.

The report also pointed fingers at Asian News International (ANI), India's largest video news agency, as a prime actor of the operation.

The investigation also revealed details about Big News Network and the World News Network – an entire network of 500-plus fake local media in 95 countries that have helped reproduce negative iterations about Pakistan or China.

The report claimed that the Srivastava group resurrected dead UN-accredited NGOs and dead persons and formed think-tanks. The think-tanks and NGOs in Brussels and Geneva were in charge of lobbying, organising demonstrations and speaking during press conferences and UN side-events. These entities were repeatedly given the floor at the UN on behalf of the accredited organisations, the report said.

During the investigation,  a fake media, EU Chronicle with fake journalists supposedly covering European affairs however provides a platform for Members of European Union Parliament (MEPs) to sign pro-Indian and anti-Pakistan articles.

Indian Chronicles also created a number of obscure companies in Canada as well as fake media to put their word's into the European Union's mouth.

The Disinfolab said that the investigation showcases how the activities of fake NGOs and fake media can be distorted and amplified by malicious actors to influence or disinform people globally, using loopholes in international institutions and online search engines.