The recent action taken by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry against many social media accounts on the charge of indulging in activities detrimental to India’s national and global interests is a step in the right direction, but — given the enormity of the threat — capacity building is necessary to counter such organised online campaigns, say security agencies and experts.
The I&B Ministry has so far got blocked 78 YouTube-based channels and multiple Twitter and Facebook accounts for allegedly spreading fake news and coordinated disinformation on issues sensitive from the perspective of national security, foreign relations and public order. A few days ago, 22 YouTube-based news channels — which had a cumulative viewership of about 262 crore — were blocked.
All the previously blocked channels were from Pakistan, while 18 of the 22 new ones were from India. “In most cases, we have found that entities operating from Pakistan and their conduits in other countries are involved,” said an agency official.
Stating that hostile social media accounts exploited each and every opportunity to promote fake narratives and foment disharmony, the official said the latest campaign was executed through multiple Twitter accounts in the aftermath of communal flare-ups in some States last week. A storm of about three lakh tweets and retweets under two hashtags hit the Twitter space within 24 hours.
“Using social media, Pak Army’s information warfare wing ISPR [Inter-Services Public Relations] has been creating political divides and communal poisoning in India to further Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s ‘bleed India with a thousand cuts’ policy,” said Jiten Jain, a cyber security expert and director of Digital Lab at Voyager Infosec.
He said ISPR had been running targeted information warfare campaigns to malign and destroy India’s secular image and global foreign policy successes for strategic gains.
According to security agencies, at any given time, ISPR has about 4,000 qualified individuals, largely inducted through a bi-annual internship programme, to do the job. “It operates on ‘hub and spoke’ model wherein certain platforms create content and narratives, while fake handles propagate them vigorously,” said another official.
Official said they have zeroed in on multiple Pakistani platforms and personalities who have been part of these campaigns. “A platform called Command Eleven focuses on geo-political affairs, India’s politics and creating communal disharmony; an online platform ‘Brass Tacks’ propagates a certain narrative in Asia and the Indian sub-continent, also provoking defiance of the socio-political order in India,” said the official. Among the suspects are also some retired Pakistani Army officers.
Another official said massive anti-India campaigns using fake accounts were launched following the Balakot air strikes; post the withdrawal of some Article 370 provisions in Jammu and Kashmir; and during the Delhi riots in 2020. After the Galwan incident, many fake Chinese profiles were created on Twitter and Facebook. They were later suspended following constant representations by the Indian authorities.
The official said: “Since 2016, ISPR adopted a more aggressive stance. Its information warfare network started using hashtag campaigns, press conferences with appealing graphics and engaging non-Pakistani foreign faces as influencers to target India. Some of these individuals are from countries like Australia and the United States. One of them is a German-American blogger and another a US citizen based in Islamabad.”
“Similar campaigns are being carried out in countries like the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Maldives and Bangladesh to fuel anti-India sentiments. Turkey is being used as new operating hub for information warfare,” said another official.
