A new player in India Disinformation Empire

India has paradoxically emerged as a major purveyor of misleading content aimed at discrediting foreign adversaries. A far-reaching network of disinformation, supported by deceptive pro-India news outlets and fake NGOs, has also been actively involved in shaping global perceptions about anti-Pakistan.

In a past few years, a damning report by EuDisinfo Lab uncovered a sophisticated misinformation network that had been active for over 15 years. The networks mentioned in the lab report belong to New Delhi-based Srivastava Group headed by Ankit Srivastava.

A new player: The Sunday Guardian

While attention has focused on the activities of the New Delhi-based Srivastava Group and ANI, other actors and platforms have quietly perpetuated the spread of disinformation. One such entity is the Sunday Guardian, owned and operated by Kartikeya Sharma, Founder and Promoter of iTV Network.

The paper has produced numerous false articles aimed at tarnishing Pakistan’s reputation, dedicating pages to constructing narratives depicting it as a failed state. In one instance, it published an unverified threat directed at the New Zealand cricket team. An article titled ‘New Zealand cricket team may face terror threat in Pakistan,’ published on August 21, 2021, preceded New Zealand’s cancellation of the tour due to security concerns roughly a month later.

Last year, Indian government blocked 35 Youtube channels belonged to Pakistan and were identified to be spreading fake anti- India news and other content that malign India’s image.

In 2021, social media campaign #BoycottIndianProducts which became a trending hashtag on twitter aimed to harm India’s image internationally. Pakistani misinformation accounts were identified as the entity behind this propaganda.

Many countries are using social media as a weapon to discredit and change the public opinion of their adversaries. Both India and Pakistan become a victim of this and running misinformation propaganda against each other.