Propaganda group targeting Modi critics ‘run by RAW officer’: WaPo report

Disinfo Lab has published reports and social media posts about the personal relationships and funding sources of US-based critics of Mr. Modi.

The organization was founded in mid-2020 by Lt Col Dibya Satpathy, who is an intelligence officer in the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), according to the report.

Mr Satapthy has “worked to shape international perceptions of India” and met with Western journalists and under aliases to seek “favourable coverage of India or critical coverage of its adversaries, Pakistan and China,” the Post reported.

The organisation “is running a covert influence operation”, the Post claimed while quoting three people who were part of the organisation.

According to a report, Disinfo Lab has accused several entities, including US government officials, researchers, humanitarian groups, and Indian-American rights activists, of being involved in a conspiracy. The alleged conspiracy is said to be led by global Islamic groups and billionaire George Soros, with the aim of undermining India.

The allegations have been widely shared on social media by supporters of Prime Minister Modi. They have also been featured in Indian news channels and presented in the US Congress.

The organisation’s activities demonstrate “how the online propaganda campaigns waged by the BJP and its allies have been expanding beyond their traditional, domestic aims of shoring up popular support and denigrating opposition parties — and now seek to influence attitudes far beyond India’s borders,” the report stated.

The Disinfo Lab stated that they are not linked to any government agency or personnel and claimed that the US newspaper was reusing outdated Pakistani propaganda.

The organization targeted Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Democratic member of Congress from Washington and a critic of the Indian PM. They also targeted human rights activists, journalists, and members of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

In a report, the group said that a commissioner of USCIRF was influenced by Islamist groups because she had previously served on a fundraising committee with a lobbyist who later represented Muslim-American groups.

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