The reports, accompanied by a high-definition image of a man in handcuffs standing before the Bahraini Ministry of Interior’s emblem, claimed that an Indian national named Nitin Mohan had been caught red-handed.

As a telecommunications expert, he was allegedly accused of transmitting sensitive geospatial data and video reconnaissance of strategic Gulf locations to Israel’s external intelligence service.

The story spread with surgical precision, fueled by “The Intel Consortium” and other accounts, racking up millions of views and appearing on news portals in Pakistan and beyond.

Anatomy of a Digital Fabrication

The investigation into “Nitin Mohan” quickly revealed a sophisticated web of lies.

On March 10, 2026, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of India, via its dedicated FactCheck wing, officially designated the claim as “false and baseless.”

Forensic analysis of the viral photograph—the purported “smoking gun”—revealed it was an AI-generated deepfake.

Digital analysts pointed to classic synthetic “hallucinations,” such as misaligned reflections in the man’s eyes, blurred fingers that merged into a single fist, and structural inconsistencies in the handcuffs. No primary source from the Bahraini government ever mentioned a “Nitin Mohan,” and no such arrest record exists in the Kingdom’s judicial system.

The Real Arrests Behind the Smoke

While Bahraini authorities did announce arrests around that time, the facts were vastly different.

On March 9, the Ministry of Interior detained six individuals for cybercrime violations related to filming and sharing videos of “Iranian aggression” and “glorifying acts of hostility” during the heightened regional tensions of 2026.

Of those arrested, five were Pakistani nationals and one was Bangladeshi. None were Indian, none were named Nitin Mohan, and zero mention was made of Mossad or espionage.

The “Nitin Mohan” story was a classic case of identity substitution, where real arrests were used as a skeleton to hang a completely fabricated and more inflammatory narrative.

The Strategic Indian Workforce: A Pillar of Progress

This disinformation campaign targeted a community that forms the literal backbone of the Middle East’s modern infrastructure.

As of 2026, over 9 million Indians live and work in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Far from being “operatives,” these individuals are the architects of the region’s future.

Indian engineers and tech experts lead massive projects like Saudi Arabia’s NEOM and the UAE’s renewable energy grids. In the medical sector, Indian doctors and nurses comprise nearly 30% of the workforce in many Gulf states.

Economically, their contribution is unparalleled; in recent years, Indian workers in the Middle East have sent back over $50 billion in annual remittances, while simultaneously driving the GDP of their host nations through construction, retail, and hospitality.

The Shadow War: Why the Diaspora is Targeted

Security experts warn that the “Nitin Mohan” hoax is part of a broader “Grey Zone” warfare strategy. Adversary countries, often utilizing organized bot networks from Pakistan and Iran, have increasingly weaponized social media to attack the credibility of the Indian workforce.

By linking ordinary Indian professionals to Mossad or foreign intelligence for ulterior goals, these campaigns aim to sow seeds of suspicion between New Delhi and Arab capitals.

This digital sabotage attempts to create a “security risk” perception around Indian talent, hoping to slow the preference for Indian engineers in sensitive sectors. As this case proves, while bots can generate lies, they cannot dismantle the decades of trust built by millions of hardworking Indians across the Middle East.

Turkey’s propaganda media front, TRT World, has spearheaded anti-India narratives, peddling full-blown pro-Pakistani propaganda

Pakistan PM Shahbaz Sharif is meeting Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan TWICE in ONE month, post the Pahalgam terror attack and after #OperationSindoor.

This not only reveals the true nature of their alliance but also EXPOSES their transnational alliance against India!

What we’re seeing today is a reflection of years of planning and collaboration. From 2018’s coordinated social media campaigns to 2022’s RToK in Sarajevo, every major anti-India narrative has been amplified simultaneously from Islamabad and Istanbul!

The Erdoğan network isn’t just diplomatic — it’s operational. Through a web of NGOs spanning continents, the Erdoğan family has built an influence ecosystem that abets everything — from Hamas to Pakistan-sponsored anti-India campaigns, including terror attacks.

Two weeks ahead of the Pahalgam terror attack, a sequence of events transpired between Pakistan and Turkey:

a. A think tank linked to Turkey’s Erdoğan family hosted a propaganda event on Kashmir.
b. TRT World interviewed a white-collared terrorist, Muzzammil Thakur, for propaganda on Kashmir.

On 9th April, Pakistani think tank CISSAJK released a report whitewashing the Pulwama terror attack and blaming India’s ruling party for “pushing South Asia to the nuclear brink.”

On 6th April, Muzzammil Thakur was also the “chief guest” at TUGVA — an organization closely linked to the Erdoğan family. Bilal Erdoğan (Erdoğan’s son) sits on the advisory board of TUGVA. TUGVA pursues the political ambitions of Erdoğan’s AK Party via its programs.

Note: TUGVA is also known for corruption allegations, promoting extremist Islamist ideology through jihadist camps, and working with Insani Haq-o-Hurriyat (IHH), which supports Al-Qaeda and ISIS.

On one hand, TUGVA hosted Muzzammil Thakur; on the other hand, he was interviewed by Turkey’s state-affiliated media and propaganda arm, TRT World. Muzzammil also shared the stage with Hamas supporter Azzam Tamimi at Ummatics Istanbul — a network founded by a Pakistani-American.

This is not the first time Turkey has abetted this anti-India figure. In 2016, TRT was the first portal to interview Muzzammil and project him as the face of resistance in Kashmir globally. It was the first time Muzzammil Thakur began receiving an international platform.

This is not a one-off or isolated instance where Turkey has abetted the Pakistani agenda globally. In fact, it has even worked hand-in-hand with Pakistan against certain countries, including India. To put things in perspective, both Turkey and Pakistan are strategic partners.

Turkey not only provides military support to Pakistan, but their alliance is marked by various aspects, including:
a. Defence deals
b. Info-war coordination
c. Military exercises
d. Technology deals

Turkey’s propaganda media front, TRT World, has spearheaded anti-India narratives, peddling full-blown pro-Pakistani propaganda — including Pakistani fake news and giving space to Pakistani faces — weaving the narrative of an alliance between India and Israel as colonial settlers.

According to a 2021 report, TRT World employed at least 50 Pakistanis out of 300-odd staff, collectively comprising correspondents, producers, and editors based in Istanbul. TRT World and Anadolu Agency are tasked with carrying propaganda favourable to the Turkey-Pakistan alliance.

Turkey under Erdoğan positions itself as a Muslim world leader, using Islamic identity to counter Western influence, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Pakistan has often aligned with Turkey’s narratives, including on Islamophobia, to resonate with global Muslim populations.

Targeting Muslim Brotherhood–targeted Countries:

Turkey and Pakistan jointly targeted countries that have also been targeted by the global radical Muslim Brotherhood — namely France, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and India.

In May 2020, #BoycottUAE trended in Pakistan after Turkish social media users promoted the hashtag. Turks were angered by the UAE’s support for Haftar’s forces in Libya (which opposed the Turkey-backed GNA) and the UAE’s ties with India.

In October 2020, Turkey and Pakistan united to push #BoycottFrenchProducts over France’s defence of free speech. Erdoğan urged Turks to shun French goods, while Pakistan’s parliament passed a resolution in 2020 backing Turkey’s call to boycott French products.

Similarly, this group also executed a slander campaign against Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS). A number of pictures of the Saudi Prince with the Indian PM were recycled to suggest he was not standing up for the cause of Muslims.

As noted, Turkey supports Pakistan in several ways: endorsing its stance on Kashmir, pushing anti-India narratives like “Islamophobia,” and using diplomatic channels and state tools — including TRT World and social media — to fuel global boycott campaigns against India.

This alliance gained more visibility after the Indian government abrogated Article 370 in J&K. Turkey and Pakistan intensified coordinated disinformation campaigns on Kashmir, weaponizing tropes like ‘Islamophobia’ to malign India’s image and hinder India’s economic interests.

On August 5, 2019, after India revoked Articles 370 and 35A, while Pakistani media pushed aggressive propaganda, Turkish outlets like TRT World and Anadolu Agency were among the first international platforms to echo Pakistan’s Kashmir narrative against India.

TRT World published over 30 long stories related to Jammu and Kashmir, and interestingly, 14 of them were also recommended by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry. A word cloud and timeline of TRT World’s coverage on Kashmir is shown below.

Turkey’s state-funded Anadolu Agency amplified fake news claiming India issued 3.4 million bogus domiciles in Kashmir to alter its demography post-Article 370. The false report was widely shared by Pakistani media — later proven fake.

The first BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) call against India appeared on Facebook on August 8, 2019 — just 3 days after the abrogation of Article 370. By August 13, 2019, the Palestinian BDS Committee had released a statement amplified via Pakistani- and Turkish-aligned platforms.

Pakistan-backed accounts launched a coordinated BDS campaign targeting India using #BoycottIndia and #BoycottIndianProducts, with over 162K tweets on X — mostly from fake or new Pakistan-based handles.

In September 2019, then-Pakistan PM Imran Khan used the UN General Assembly to accuse India of “Islamophobia” post-Article 370 abrogation. That same year, Pak sympathizer CJ Werleman pushed the Islamophobia trope against India, amplified by Turkish and Pakistani networks.

Weaponizing the OIC

Pakistan and Turkey also weaponized the OIC to amplify anti-India narratives in 2020 — citing CAA/NRC and Kashmir to push claims of ‘Islamophobia’. Turkey’s Anadolu Agency, TRT World, and Erdoğan backed the line.

OIC Statement & Fake Arab Handles Campaign

In April 2020, after OIC criticized India over Islamophobia, Pakistan launched a fake social media campaign. Pak accounts posing as Arab royals unleashed a disinformation campaign (later exposed) to target India with Islamophobia.

Soft Calls for BDS Against India

In collusion, Turkey and Pakistan organized several events equating Kashmir with Palestine and called for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against India. Seminars and events were organized jointly by this alliance.

In May 2020, an event was jointly hosted by Kashmir Civitas (based in Pakistan, Istanbul, Shanghai, and Qatar), along with Turkey-based Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA), to draw a parallel between Kashmir and Palestine and seek BDS against India.

Similarly, on June 29–30, 2020, Istanbul University organized an event on Kashmir attended by Pakistani ministers and convicted ISI agent Ghulam Nabi Fai among others. Masood Khan urged Turkey’s intervention in the Kashmir issue while seeking BDS against India.

To lend legitimacy to the BDS campaign against India, pro-Pakistan networks enlisted CJ Werleman to write an article on TRT World (July 2020) framing the Kashmir issue within the global BDS movement and internationalizing anti-India narratives.

A few months later, to test the waters, in September 2021, the #BoycottIndianProducts campaign trended on X — this time spearheaded by the global Muslim Brotherhood along with the nexus of Qatar-Turkey-Pakistan (QTPi).

Two months later, in December 2021, the Turkey-Pakistan nexus — including Pakistan’s Jamaat and Erdoğan-linked entities — backed by the Muslim Brotherhood nexus linked to Hamas, organized a hush-hush ‘Russell Tribunal on Kashmir (RToK)’ against India.

Major takeaway of the 3-day Tribunal: BDS Movement against India!

RToK & Erdoğan Link

Among the organizers of the RToK tribunal was the International University of Sarajevo (IUS). The president of IUS is Professor Dr. Sevgi Kurtulmuş, professor of Economics at Ankara University. Dr. Sevgi is the wife of Numan Kurtulmuş, who was Deputy PM of Turkey (2014–17), from the AKP.

IUS was founded by the Foundation for Education Development Sarajevo (SEDEF) in 2003. SEDEF is a pro-government Turkish businessmen and Islamist foundation backed by Erdoğan.

SEDEF’s constituent organization is ILIM YAYMA VAKFI, founded by Erdoğan on March 31, 1973. Bilal Erdoğan is its president.

Prior to the RToK event, IUS had never engaged with Kashmir. Yet, this Erdoğan-linked university co-organized the RToK — after months of seminars and online boycott campaigns against India. Erdoğan’s ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and Turkish state media’s role in the MB-led boycott are well known.

Another key organizer of the RToK was Kashmir Civitas (KC), established in 2019 with bases in Istanbul, London, Beijing, Rome, and Toronto. Farhan Mujahid Chak is the face of KC. He is of Pakistani origin, Qatar-resident, and currently based in Canada.

A few days after RToK, UK-based firm Stoke White — whose founder Hakan Camuz is a Turkish citizen and close to the Erdoğan family — ran a smear arrest campaign against the Indian Army and India’s Home Minister, accusing India of human rights violations in J&K.

Hakan Camuz headed the UK-based Turken Foundation (2015–19), which has deep links with the Erdoğan family.

The Turken Foundation was established by two Turkish organizations: Ensar Foundation (est. 1979) and TURGEV (est. 1996 by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan). Bilal Erdoğan was once a board member of the Turken Foundation UK.

Ensar Foundation

In 2016, Ensar Foundation was involved in a child abuse scandal in Karaman, a central Anatolian town in Turkey, in a guest house run by Ensar Foundation. The foundation is known to be run by close associates of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan!

The Relationship Goes Deeper

In 2014, Camuz represented Bilal Erdoğan in a case against CNBC and David L. Philips after they exposed alleged links between Bilal and Turkey’s Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) in funding terror group ISIS. IHH is a known tool of Turkey’s intelligence agency Millî İstihbarat Teşkilatı (MİT).

Camuz’s Stoke White has run legal and smear campaigns targeting countries — UAE, Saudi Arabia, India, and France — all targeted by the Muslim Brotherhood and Turkey. Its cases also echo Ankara’s narrative, even demanding action against Erdoğan’s rival, Mohammed Dahlan.

On Jan 19, 2022, Stoke White launched a hit job against the Indian Home Minister and Army Chief (from Jan 2021), accusing India of genocide in Kashmir.

This was based on an “investigation” with Pakistan-based Legal Forum for Oppressed Voices of Kashmir (LFOVK). The campaign was strategically made to trend in Turkey.

LFOVK is headed by Pakistani Judge Justice Ali Nawaz Chawhan (late) and Advocate Nasir Qadri. It is pertinent to note that while SW launched a hit job against the Indian HM and then-Indian Army Chief, it was LFOVK that started the #arrestindianarmychief trend and peddled the narrative of ‘war crimes in Kashmir’ with SW.

LFK collaborates with think tanks like IPRI and IPS — both deeply tied to the Pakistan Army and ISI. Asad Durrani, ex-IPS member, was the general of Military Intelligence (MI) and ISI. These institutions were tasked by Pakistan’s Senate in 2016 to identify and exploit India’s “fault lines.”

Just two weeks ahead of the RToK in Sarajevo, LFOVK head Nasir Qadri and primary organizer Farhan Mujahid Chak (Kashmir Civitas) attended the 17th IPS Working Group on Kashmir in 2021 — joined by others including Irshad Mahmood, Tajammul Altaf, and APHC officials.

The New Narrative

As noted, there have been strong efforts to seek BDS against India, just like the BDS movement against Israel. Through boycott campaigns, hit job campaigns, and RToK, this alliance has been forging a narrative linking India and Israel.

Hence, this transnational alliance — driven by Turkey’s vision of becoming the poster boy of the Islamic world — uses Turkish propaganda fronts along with Pakistani allies to craft the India-Israel narrative. Turkey actively abets and drives these efforts alongside Pakistan through state machinery and media.

Most recently, TRT World gave a platform to Nasir Qadri, who accused India of adopting Israel’s settler-colonial tactics. During the India-Pakistan conflict in May 2025, a number of Pakistani handles also peddled the same narrative as Nasir Qadri on TRT World.

Turkey is fast emerging as a new hub for anti-India radical Islamists.

This investigative article draws exclusively from verified research conducted by DisInfoLab, a leading organization renowned for uncovering global disinformation campaigns, propaganda networks, and hybrid warfare strategies. Every event, connection, and claim outlined in this exposé is rooted in meticulously documented findings from DisInfoLab’s reports.

A wave of disinformation spearheaded by accounts linked to the Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan) is spreading across social media, falsely claiming that Saudi Arabia has allowed Israel to use its Hamida airbase to strike Houthi rebels in Yemen.

This claim, however, stands in direct contradiction to both the Kingdom’s defense policies and regional geopolitical realities. It’s a desperate attempt to stir regional tensions and provoke public outrage.

Let’s be clear: this claim is not only baseless but reeks of the Brotherhood’s long-standing obsession with vilifying Saudi Arabia under the guise of “defending the Ummah.”

For those with even a faint idea of how geopolitics works in the Gulf, the idea that Riyadh would give its strategic military infrastructure to another country — let alone Israel — to attack a third-party nation is laughable.

Having spent more than a decade in Saudi Arabia, interacting with people from all walks of life—including Houthi Yemenis, legal experts, and policy advisors—I can testify firsthand that the Kingdom’s military and legal doctrine is centered on defense, not aggression. Saudi Arabia does not, and has not, opened its airspace, land, or naval bases to any foreign power to target a third country.

However, during the 1990s, Saudi Arabia sought America’s support to defend its own borders—not to intervene in someone else’s conflict.

During the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, it was Turkey under Tayip Erdogan as Prime Minister that offered its Incirlik Airbase, and Qatar that opened up the Al Udeid Airbase to American forces.

While Ikhwani voices slander Saudi Arabia, they conveniently ignore the documented military cooperation between Pakistan and the United States. During the War on Terror, Pakistan openly provided U.S. forces with military bases, including the Shamsi Airbase, from where drone strikes were launched into Afghanistan and tribal areas, resulting in both militant and civilian casualties.

According to a 2011 report by the New York Times, Pakistan received billions in military aid while facilitating these operations, which included over 400 drone strikes between 2004 and 2011 alone.

But the Brotherhood and their digital foot soldiers stay silent on those truths—because facts aren’t convenient when you’re in the business of political manipulation.

This latest rumor is part of a tired Ikhwani playbook: insert “Israel” into any fabricated headline, link it to Saudi Arabia, and watch the outrage machine spin. But times have changed. The region isn’t buying it anymore.

Israel, meanwhile, has shown remarkable technological resilience in the face of escalating regional threats—whether it’s intercepting a record 300+ drones and missiles during a recent multi-front assault, or sharing its defense innovations with allies who genuinely seek peace and progress.

While Saudi Arabia maintains no formal diplomatic relations with Israel, the Kingdom has always taken a principled stance—favoring stability, peace, and regional cooperation without compromising on the Palestinian cause. Meanwhile, Israel has emerged as a hub for technological innovation, counter-terrorism expertise, and disaster response—all areas in which Gulf nations can learn and cooperate, if and when official channels are established.

Kingdom’s stance has always been principled and transparent—focused on stability, not sensationalism.

And speaking of peace, Saudi Arabia and Iran’s normalization just two days ago saw the signing of multiple bilateral agreements—a move that has notably reduced Houthi attacks on Saudi territory. This diplomatic breakthrough alone dismantles the very premise of the Brotherhood’s conspiracy: if missiles have stopped, what exactly would Israel be striking from Saudi soil?

It’s time to call this what it is: Muslim Brotherhood psychological warfare, meant to fracture unity, incite the uninformed, and derail progress under the pretext of pan-Islamism—a worn-out mask for power politics.

Let’s not be fooled.

Qatar is conducting a multi-pronged, global influence campaign to expand its regional and international clout.

Recently, it was reported that Israeli security officials are investigating the possibility that Qatari elements are behind a wave of online posts in recent weeks designed to cast doubt on the stability of the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt. These posts, widely circulated in Israeli media, focused on Egypt’s military buildup and increased troop deployment in Sinai — a move that could be seen as violating the peace treaty.

However, a civil society group called “Fake Reporter,” which tracks malicious online activity, found a sharp rise in content on social media portraying Egypt as an increasing threat to Israel. Some of the videos and images used to support these claims were actually from an Egyptian military drill held in 2018.

While it’s true that Egypt has been enhancing its military capabilities, it seems there’s a deliberate attempt to frame this as a threat to Israel. The suspicion is that this disinformation campaign may be aimed at weakening Egypt’s role as a mediator, particularly with the U.S., in Middle Eastern affairs — and especially in Gaza-related matters.

If Qatar is indeed behind this disinformation, it would be yet another link in its vast influence network — one that’s drawn increasing attention lately, both due to the potential collapse of the Assad regime in Syria and Qatar’s involvement in mediation efforts around hostage negotiations. In the Israeli context, reports have surfaced about Qatar hiring Israeli PR experts — including advisors to Netanyahu — to improve its image in global public opinion and in the Jewish world.

This isn’t a new tactic for the small Gulf emirate. While research on influence campaigns over the past decade has focused mostly on Russia, China, and Iran, Qatar has largely flown under the radar — unjustly so. A series of investigations by Reuters since 2019 exposed “Project Raven,” a secret UAE-led operation that hired former NSA agents to spy on targets in Turkey, France, Yemen, Iran, Qatar, and Israel.

Leaked information from that project revealed the extent of Qatar’s global influence operations — supporting both terrorist groups and friendly regimes in the West, while also working to destabilize governments across the Arab world.

For example, Qatar played a role in toppling Gaddafi’s regime in Libya and was the first to recognize the rebel government. It also supported Tunisia’s post-revolution regime after the fall of Ben Ali, and has actively backed Syrian rebels with weapons and funding. Traditionally, Qatar has pursued a proactive agenda in the Arab world and has recently intensified efforts to position itself as a leader of the Sunni world. To that end, it engages in various influence channels:

Influence Among Decision Makers

Qatar commonly uses financial incentives to sway influencers and policymakers. Beyond the bribery scandals uncovered in Project Raven, French authorities recently indicted Nasser Al-Khelaifi — a senior official in Qatar’s Investment Authority and president of Paris Saint-Germain football club — for allegedly using bribes to manipulate business decisions.

Similarly, U.S. Senator Bob Menendez was accused of accepting bribes from both Qatar and Egypt to advance their interests. Qatar also funds trips for politicians and journalists to Doha — a form of soft power. In 2018, federal investigations began in the U.S. into whether lobbyists and former government officials working for Qatar had violated lobbying laws. That year, 250 people close to President Trump were flown to Doha at Qatar’s expense. Likewise, Rep. Ilhan Omar was flown to Qatar during the 2022 World Cup, and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer admitted to a similar Qatar-sponsored trip when he was still a member of Parliament.

Just last week, the European Network of Aviation Associations (ENAA) warned the EU’s transport department about a possible aviation deal with Qatar, raising corruption concerns.

Financial Influence

Qatar’s wealth oils the wheels of influence in the U.S. Congress — with reports in 2018 showing that 59 members received donations from Qatar. Think tanks in Washington also benefit, making Qatar a major funder of those who whisper in the ears of decision-makers. In 2022, it was revealed that Gen. John Allen, then-president of the Brookings Institution, was under investigation for secretly lobbying for Qatar after retiring from the military — earning over $1 million in fees. He worked alongside Richard Olson, former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan and the UAE, who admitted to participating in the lobbying campaign.

“Qatargate” Scandal in Europe

The Qatargate scandal in the European Parliament revealed that, starting in 2019, Qatar paid Italian MEP Antonio Panzeri and Greek EU Vice President Eva Kaili in exchange for favorable votes. This led to greater scrutiny in Europe over parliamentarians’ trips to Qatar and prompted ethics committees to enhance oversight and limit Qatari influence.

Western Assets and Public Opinion

Qatar also secures influence through investments. It holds major stakes in European corporations like Porsche. Its massive investment in building the U.S. air base at Al-Udeid made it the largest American military base in the Middle East. Qatar also targets American public opinion — in spring 2020, it donated millions in COVID-19 aid to families in Los Angeles, Charleston (South Carolina), and other U.S. cities.

Influence Through Sports

Qatar places immense importance on sports as a tool for influence. Hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup was the result of a massive lobbying effort — including hiring Israeli PR experts. The campaign continues, with recent reports of Qatari investors aiming to buy the English football club Tottenham and launching their bid to host the 2027 Basketball World Cup. During the 2024 Paris Olympics, Qatari leaders, including the Emir, were prominent guests at the opening ceremony, and Al-Khelaifi even carried the Olympic torch.

Diplomatic Influence

Qatar invests heavily in its image as a regional mediator. Both the Biden and Trump administrations praised its efforts in negotiating the release of American hostages from the Taliban. Doha values this role so highly that its diplomats frequently emphasize Qatar’s neutrality. For instance, the Qatari ambassador to the U.S. wrote op-eds in The Wall Street Journal and Newsweek framing Qatar as an honest broker. Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson has echoed this narrative in numerous interviews, including with Israeli outlets like Haaretz and Channel 12. Journalists from The Jerusalem Post and Kan 11 have even been invited to Doha.

Influence in Education

A 2022 study by the U.S. National Association of Scholars revealed that between 2001 and 2021, Qatar donated $4.7 billion to American universities — including Cornell, Georgetown, and Carnegie Mellon — in return for opening Doha branches. Sometimes, this came with conditions, like removing certain course content or cooperating with Qatari media like Al Jazeera. Texas A&M alone received $404 million between 2015 and 2023. (The university has announced plans to shut its Doha campus by 2027 — a move publicly criticized by the U.S. ambassador to Qatar.)

Qatar has become the largest foreign donor to U.S. universities, often without proper disclosure, and a 2020 ISGAP study found a correlation between Qatari funding and pro-Palestinian activism on American campuses.

Supporting Terror-Linked Groups Under a Humanitarian Disguise

Qatar often masks its support for terror-linked entities as humanitarian aid. To retain influence in Gaza, Qatar insisted on delivering aid during the early 2025 ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, including fuel and bulldozers. It pledged $100 million to UNRWA, with $4.5 million earmarked for operations in the West Bank. Qatar also funneled money to Hezbollah through “charities” that provide food, medicine, and education — and used similar “humanitarian” ventures to build ties with the Houthis in Yemen and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Media Influence

Qatar’s media arm, Al Jazeera, plays a major role in shaping public opinion. It’s the most popular English-language news network in the world after CNN and BBC — and has been accused of acting as a mouthpiece for Hamas and other Islamist groups. Since its founding in 1996, Al Jazeera has provided a platform for Muslim Brotherhood leaders and broadcast divisive content about the Arab world.

Its various branches, including AJ+ in the U.S., continue to influence global narratives. In Gaza, several Al Jazeera journalists were recently found to be affiliated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and the channel actively promoted staged events involving Israeli hostages.

Conclusion

Qatar is conducting a multi-pronged, global influence campaign to expand its regional and international clout. Through its vast network of soft power — in diplomacy, media, education, finance, and humanitarian aid — Qatar has become a key player in global affairs. Israel’s current dependence on Qatari mediation regarding hostages forces it to tolerate, and even flatter, one of Hamas’s primary funders — without whom the October 7th attack may not have happened. Qatar is now also helping Hamas recover.

This case illustrates the sophistication of Qatar’s influence strategy — and the urgent need to monitor and defend against it.

Translated in English from Jerusalem Institute of Strategic Studies.

He presented the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, 2023, in the lower house of parliament on Friday, which has been referred to the Standing Committee for review.

Under Section 195 (1) d of the proposed bill, individuals who make or publish false or misleading information that poses a threat to the sovereignty, unity, integrity, or security of India can be punished with imprisonment, fines, or both.

This section falls under Chapter 11 of the bill, titled ‘Of Offences against the Public Tranquility’, specifically addressing ‘Imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration’. Previously, similar provisions were covered under Section 153B of the Indian Penal Code.

During the introduction of the bills in the lower house, the Home Minister emphasized the aim of these laws to protect the rights granted to Indian citizens by the Constitution. He stated that the three bills, namely the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill, 2023, and Bharatiya Sakhshya Bill, 2023, fulfill a promise outlined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address to eradicate remnants of slavery.

The bills aim to replace the Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Criminal Procedure Code (1898), and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, which were enacted during the British colonial era.

Amit Shah explained, “The Indian Penal Code, 1860 will be replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, 2023; the Criminal Procedure Code, 1898 will be replaced by the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill, 2023, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 will be replaced by the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, 2023”.

The proposed legislation reflects the Indian government’s commitment to address the spread of fake news and misleading information, particularly in cases where it poses a threat to national security and unity. The bill’s referral to the Standing Committee suggests a thorough review process to ensure its effectiveness and adherence to constitutional principles.

Since October 23, pro-Russian and pro-Wagner accounts on social media have been sharing a video that claims to prove France is arming jihadists in Mali.

The narrative that France supports terrorism in Mali is common among users spreading anti-Western misinformation online. We tell you more in this edition of Truth or Fake.

Disinformation is an organised and carefully mined operation here.

BBC News published a featured column about the rise of disinformation campaigns in India, which has eventually become a difficult and tedious task for the social media giants like Facebook to handle.

Below is the entire column published verbatim:

The researcher’s report was part of a cache of internal documents called The Facebook Papers, recently obtained by New York Times and other US publications. They show the social media giant struggling to tame the avalanche of fake news, hate speech, and inflammatory content -“celebrations of violence”, among other things – out of India, the network’s biggest market.

This was made worse, reported the New York Times, by failure to deploy enough resources in India’s 22 officially recognised languages and a lack of cultural sensitivity.

A Facebook spokesperson told me that the findings had led the company to undertake a “deeper, more rigorous analysis” of its recommendation systems in India and contributed to “product changes to improve them”. 

So, is a lack of resources hobbling efforts by Facebook to fight fake news and inflammatory material in India? Facebook has partnered locally with 10 fact-checking organisations. Items flagged across the social network are fact-checked in English and 11 other Indian languages, making it one of the largest networks after the US.

But the reality is more complex. Fact-checking organisations working with Facebook in India say they cross-check and tag suspicious news and posts flagged by users. The network is then expected to suppress the distribution of such posts. 

“We really do not have any moral or legal authority on what Facebook does after we tag a news or a post,” a senior official of a fact-checking organisation told me.

Also, fact-checking is only one part of Facebook’s efforts at countering misinformation. The problem in India is much bigger: hate speech is rife, bots and fake accounts linked to India’s political parties and leaders abound, and user pages and large groups brim with inflammatory material targeting Muslims and other minorities. Disinformation is an organised and carefully mined operation here. Elections and “events” like natural calamities and the coronavirus pandemic usually trigger fake news outbreaks.

Also, the fact that Facebook does not fact check opinion and speech posted by politicians on grounds of “free expression and respect for the democratic process” is not always helpful. “A large part of the misinformation on social media in India is generated by politicians of the ruling party. They have the largest clout, but Facebook doesn’t fact-check them,” says Pratik Sinha, co-founder of Alt News, an independent fact-checking site.

So, the latest revelations do not come as a surprise to most fact-checkers and rights activists in India. “We have known this all along. No social media platform is above blame,” says Mr Sinha. 

With a surfeit of hate speech, trolling and attacks on minorities and women, Indian Twitter is a polarised and dark place. WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned messaging service, remains the largest carrier of fake news and hoaxes in its biggest market. YouTube, owned by Google, hosts a lot of fake news and controversial content, but doesn’t attract the same amount of attention. For example there were live videos, up to 12 hours long, on the site that fanned conspiracy theories about the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput last year. (The police later ruled that Rajput died by suicide.)

The problem with Facebook lies elsewhere. With 340 million users, India is its biggest market. It is a general purpose social media platform which offers users individual pages and to form groups. “The wide range of features make it more vulnerable to all kinds of misinformation and hate speech,” says Mr Sinha. 

The overwhelming bulk of hate speech and misinformation on the social network are expected to be captured by its internal AI engines and content moderators all over the world. Facebook claims to have spent more than $13bn and hired more than 40,000 people in teams and technology around the world on safety and security issues since 2016. More than 15,000 people review content in more than 70 languages, including 20 Indian languages, a spokesperson told me. 

When users report hate speech, automated “classifiers” – a database created by humans which annotates different kinds of speeches – vet them before selected ones reach human moderators, which are often third-party contractors. “If these classifiers were good enough they would catch a lot more hate speech, with fewer false positives. But they clearly aren’t,” says Mr Sinha. 

A Facebook spokesperson told that the firm had “invested significantly in technology to find hate speech in various languages, including Hindi and Bengali”. 

“As a result, we’ve reduced the amount of hate speech that people see by half this year. Today, it’s down to 0.05%. Hate speech against marginalised groups, including Muslims, is on the rise globally. So we are improving enforcement and are committed to updating our policies as hate speech evolves online,” the spokesperson said. 

Then there are allegations that Facebook favours the governing party. A series of articles by journalists Cyril Sam and Paranjoy Guha Thakurta in 2018 wrote about the platform’s “dominant position in India with more than a little help from friends of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP”, among other things. (The articles also looked at the Congress party’s own “relations with Facebook”.) “A business model predicated on virality makes Facebook an ally of ruling governments,” says Mr Guha Thakurta, co-author of The Real Face of Facebook in India.

Many believe a large part of the blame must broadly lie with the social network’s algorithms which decide what to show up when you search for a subject, and pushes users to join groups, watch videos and explore new pages. 

Alan Rusbridger, a journalist and member of Facebook’s oversight board, has said the board will have to “get to grips” with the perception of people who believe that “the algorithms reward emotional content that polarises communities because that makes it more addictive”. In other words, the network’s algorithms allow “fringe content to reach the mainstream”, as Roddy Lindsay, a former data scientist at Facebook, says.

“This ensures that these feeds will continue promoting the most titillating, inflammatory content, and it creates an impossible task for content moderators, who struggle to police problematic viral content in hundreds of languages, countries and political contexts,” notes Mr Lindsay.

In the end, as Frances Haugen, the Facebook product-manager-turned-whistleblower, says: “We should have software that is human-scaled, where humans have conversations together, not computers facilitating who we get to hear from.”

Muslim Brotherhood major media outlets also participated this fake news campaign.

Greek City Times published a report about the coordinated disinformation campaign led by Muslim Brotherhood against India.

Following is the report:

A trend on Twitter, #BoycottIndianProducts, was launched few days ago and has been going on since. This was launched by the Muslim Brotherhood, who with fake news and multiple afflicted ‘news media’, to target India’s economic interests.

The target was India, but it ended up targeting Saudi Arabia instead.

The campaign, according to The Disinfo Lab, was essentially targeting Saudi Arabia and the UAE, particularly Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, or maintaining a good relation with India.

However, the India relations are a mere ruse. This was not one off campaign, and the Qatar-Turkey-Pakistan Nexus has been targeting Saudi Arabia and the UAE for questioning their ‘right’ to be the leader of Islamic world.

The idea is obvious – by discrediting MBS, the leader of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, would be crowned as the rightful leader of the Ummah (Global Muslim community).

The Ertugrul Ghazi was prelude. The Ottoman Empire is in remaking! Well.. you get the picture.

India was not the only country targeted for this economic boycott. The campaign also targeted France, asking to boycott French products.

This social media trend was not only in virtual realm. There is a solid economic logic behind it.

By creating the subaltern culture of boycott through social media, they would also create a potent weapon. And once the Qatar-Turkey-Pakistan Nexus takes centre stage in the Islamic world, this would create an exclusionary economy of gigantic proportions.

The economic power the nexus built will not only affect the Muslim world but would dictate terms all over the world – in the name of accommodating this huge market.

The petro-dollars of Qatar (gas-dollars to be precise), may not last forever to sustain the radical Islamists of Muslim Brotherhood. They would need new economic logic to sustain their radical Ideas. This could be one.

At around September 26 2021, a trend was observed on social media with the hashtag – #مقاطعة_المنتجات_الهندية (#BoycottIndianProducts).

The trend was essentially in Arabic, except for few handles who also used the English language trend.

In the past few days, some social media users in the Arabic world (essentially Egypt & Iraq), along with Turkish and Pakistani users were engaged in running coordinated campaign, with the hashtags #مقاطعة_المنتجات_الهندية (#BoycottIndianProducts) and الهند_تقتل_المسلمين (#IndiaIsKillingMuslims).

They called for a boycott Indian products as a means to teach India a lesson. The call for ban has been brought about, citing atrocities committed against Muslims in India.

While on the face of it, the #Boycott_Indian_Products felt like it was a reaction to the most unfortunate and condemnable incident in northeast India, it became apparent that the trigger would not have mattered.

Given the overwhelming amount of fake news used in the campaign, it is obvious that the campaigners were waiting for an excuse – any excuse. The one incident was pushed with an overdose of fake news – recycling all old and unrelated media.

It was not a spontaneous reaction. The same campaign is being run for the last four years – starting 2018.

These campaigns (#BoycottIndianProducts) were launched earlier in Jan 2018; Feb 2019; and Sept 2020. However, they never got much success.

While the reasons are not clear, the Pakistani establishment was not effective – and may be why the Muslim Brotherhood stepped in?

Muslim Brotherhood major media outlets also participated this fake news campaign.

Al Jazeera

From being a ‘fresh alternate voice’ to the Western ‘global media’ – to falling outright into the categories of propaganda outlets – AJ’s journey has been rather swift, taking on hardcore Muslim Brotherhood positions since the so-called Arab Spring in 2011.

Not only that most basic reporting standards were missing, one of the sister news media of AJ went on to recycle the story through their Twitter every six hour.

All the major portals of Al Jazeera promoted the campaign by tweeting from its various handles i.e., Al Jazeera Global, Arabic, Kuwait, Turkey, Egypt etc.

AJ’s perspective towards India has been less than transparent, to say the least. It has had a history of sharing fake news, particularly targeting India.

The anti-India slant of AJ was also visible, where it did not show the J&K as part of India, which is followed by all media houses publishing in India. This is not unique to India, as most countries desire that any publication in their territory should depict their official claims.

For global audience, most of the neutral platforms adopt the UN maps. But AJ’s sympathies were clear.

What is even more shocking was that AJ did not show Lakshadweep and Andaman Islands as part of India, the territories that are not even in dispute.

The U.S. ordered Al Jazeera Affiliate to Register as Foreign Agent.

The Justice Department says AJ+, a media outlet backed by the royal family of Qatar, engages in “political activities.

As noted above, several of its journalist have been found to be members of Muslim Brotherhood, with some having been on terror watchlists.

TRT World

TRT World is a state-owned Turkish public broadcaster news channel. It is managed by the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation and is heavily aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood.

TRT World is one of the several media houses to have covered the news and even promoted the campaign of #BoycottIndianProducts.

However, TRT World went one step ahead, and removed any doubt whatsoever about its intentions.

It launched a promotion of the news article through TRT Arabia, which ran a Facebook Ad (now deleted).

The target location of Ad could not be determined as it is currently active.

While it is not common for any major media house to run paid advertisements of particular news article, some media houses still do. But TRT’s history of paid promotions tell their own story.

As is the case with such endeavors, fake news is almost always part of the package.

TRT World has also shared several fake news via its portal targeting India.

Incidentally, TRT’s fake news are not only limited in targeting India, but to other countries who may not be in the good books of Turkish government and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Meem Magazine recently claimed that Saudi Arabia has removed Quran studies from schools. This dubious propaganda operation was done by a team of hardliners based in Tunisia and Turkey.

After investigating the magazine’s Facebook page, it shows that a sponsored team based in these countries along with France, carried out this misguiding story. While the other stories of the magazine carry pro-Muslim Brotherhood propaganda.

It’s goes without doubt why such paid influence operations are very often carried out against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and its leaders.

The reality is, Saudi government has merged multiple Islamic subjects into one single book, and introduced five new science subjects as well—to keep the students up-to-date with the scientific developments.

Saudi schools will teach English language starting from Grade-1, while digital skills, social studies, physical education, self-defense from Grade-4 onwards.

However, this information has been misconstrued, and lied upon by the Meem Magazine.

Ibtisam Al Shehri, spokesperson of the Ministry of Education, confirmed in the Ya Hala show on Rotana TV that, among the curriculum development was the merging of Islamic education subjects, including jurisprudence, hadith and interpretation into one book.

The education ministry has not shunned teaching Islamic subjects. But in order to introduce other competitive subjects, the ministry has merged different Islamic subjects into one subject.

For example, in O-Levels and Intermediate, Pakistani students prefer Pakistan Studies instead of History, Geography, Constitution of Pakistan, Leaders of Pakistan, etc. separately. And, they learn Islamiyaat as one subject instead of five different subjects.

Saudi Gazette published a report that, the Ministry of Education added new subjects such as English language, digital skills, social studies, physical education, self-defense, and the latest decisions in developing curricula for all educational levels in public education, were the inclusion of sign language in the (family education and life skills) curriculum.

Classes related to activity and vocational training have also been added, including “Mus’haf Madrasati” which is specialized in teaching the Holy Quran to help students with special needs to learn.

On the other hand, Saudi Arabia has banned extremist literature of Muslim Brotherhood, and the government has ordered to remove the texts which speak about sectarian divides.

These steps taken by the Saudi government have given a major blow to the extremist groups and their affiliates. Hence, they resort to negative influence operations against the Kingdom—which is very often done by touching the emotional threads of the Muslim community.

The hardliners understand the psychology of Muslims that a Muslim would feel offended if he is told that a Muslim government like Saudi Arabia has banned the teaching and learning of God’s final revelation. Moreover, it becomes easy for the radical sects to exploit these emotions for their political purposes.

The matter is plain and simple unless a person chooses to fall into the trap of disinformation.

Zahack Tanvir is a Saudi-based Non-Resident Indian. He is an IT Consultant, Computer Engineer, and also holds Dip. in Journalism from London. He is the founder of MilliChronicle. He often writes and tweets against political Islam. He can be followed under @ZahackTanvir.

Afreen Baig is an independent political analyst on the contemporary issues of Middle-East and the Arab World. She writes for The Milli Chronicle. She can be followed under @afrenebege.

Website Nile Net Online promises Egyptians “true news” from its offices in the heart of Cairo’s Tahrir Square, “to expand the scope of freedom of expression in the Arab world.” 

Its views on America do not chime with those of Egypt’s state media, which celebrate Donald Trump’s warm relations with Cairo. In one recent article, Nile Net Online derided the American president as a “low-level theater actor” who “turned America into a laughing stock” after he attacked Iran in a speech at the United Nations.

Until recently, Nile Net Online had more than 115,000 page-followers across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But its contact telephone numbers, including one listed as 0123456789, don’t work. A Facebook map showing its location dropped a pin onto the middle of the street, rather than any building. And regulars at the square, including a newspaper stallholder and a policeman, say they have never heard of the website.

It’s one of more than 70 websites found by Reuters which push Iranian propaganda to 15 countries, in an operation that cybersecurity experts, social media firms and journalists are only starting to uncover. The sites found by Reuters are visited by more than half a million people a month, and have been promoted by social media accounts with more than a million followers.

The sites underline how political actors worldwide are increasingly circulating distorted or false information online to influence public opinion. The discoveries follow allegations that Russian disinformation campaigns have swayed voters in the United States and Europe. Advisers to Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, and the army in Myanmar, are also among those using social media to distribute propaganda and attack their enemies. Moscow has denied the charges; Riyadh and Yangon have not commented.

Former CIA director John Brennan told Reuters that “countries around the globe” are now using such information warfare tactics.

“The Iranians are sophisticated cyber players,” he said of the Iranian campaign. “There are elements of the Iranian intelligence services that are rather capable in terms of operating (online).”

Traced by building on research from cybersecurity firms FireEye and ClearSky, the sites in the campaign have been active at different times since 2012. They look like normal news and media outlets, but only a couple disclose any Iranian ties.

Reuters could not determine whether the Iranian government is behind the sites; Iranian officials in Tehran and London did not reply to questions.

But all the sites are linked to Iran in one of two ways. Some carry stories, video and cartoons supplied by an online agency called the International Union of Virtual Media (IUVM), which says on its website it is headquartered in Tehran. Some have shared online registration details with IUVM, such as addresses and phone numbers. Twenty-one of the websites do both.

Emails sent to IUVM bounced back and telephone numbers the agency gave in web registration records did not work. Documents available on the main IUVM website say its objectives include “confronting with remarkable arrogance, western governments and Zionism front activities.”

Nile Net Online did not respond to questions sent to the email address on its website. Its operators, as well as those of the other websites identified by Reuters, could not be located. Previous owners identified in historical registration records could not be reached. The Egyptian government did not respond to requests for comment.

Tehran calling

“UNSPOKEN TRUTH”

Some of the sites in the Iranian operation were first exposed in August by companies including Facebook, Twitter and Google’s parent, Alphabet, after FireEye found them. The social media companies have closed hundreds of accounts that promoted the sites or pushed Iranian messaging. Facebook said last month it had taken down 82 pages, groups and accounts linked to the Iranian campaign; these had gathered more than one million followers in the United States and Britain.

But the sites uncovered by Reuters have a much wider scope. They have published in 16 different languages, from Azerbaijani to Urdu, targeting Internet users in less-developed countries. That they reached readers in tightly controlled societies such as Egypt, which has blocked hundreds of news websites since 2017, highlights the campaign’s reach.

 The Iranian sites include:

· A news site called Another Western Dawn which says its focus is on “unspoken truth.” It fooled the Pakistani defence minister into issuing a nuclear threat against Israel.

·  Ten outlets targeting readers in Yemen, where Iran and U.S. ally Saudi Arabia have been fighting a proxy conflict since civil war broke out in 2015;

· A media outlet offering daily news and satirical cartoons in Sudan. Reuters could not reach any of its staff;

· A website called Realnie Novosti, or “Real News,” for Russian readers. It offers a downloadable mobile phone app but its operator could not be traced.

The news on the sites is not all fake. Authentic stories sit alongside pirated cartoons, as well as speeches from Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The sites clearly support Iran’s government and amplify antagonism to countries opposed to Tehran – particularly Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United States. Nile Net’s “laughing stock” piece was copied from an Iranian state TV network article published earlier the same day.

Some of the sites are slapdash. The self-styled, misspelled “Yemen Press Agecny” carries a running update of Saudi “crimes against Yemenis during the past 24 hours.” Emails sent to the agency’s listed contact, Arafat Shoroh, bounced back. The agency’s address and phone number led to a hotel in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, whose staff said they had never heard of Shoroh.

The identity or location of the past owners of some of the websites is visible in historical Internet registration records: 17 of 71 sites have in the past listed their locations as Iran or Tehran, or given an Iranian telephone or fax number. But who owns them now is often hidden, and none of the Iranian-linked operators could be reached.

More than 50 of the sites use American web service providers Cloudflare and OnlineNIC – firms that provide website owners with tools to shield themselves from spam and hackers. Frequently, such services also effectively conceal who owns the sites or where they are hosted. The companies declined to tell Reuters who operates the sites.

Under U.S law, hosting and web services companies are not generally liable for the content of sites they serve, said Eric Goldman, co-director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University. Still, since 2014, U.S. sanctions on Iran have banned “the exportation or re-exportation, directly or indirectly, of web-hosting services that are for commercial endeavors or of domain name registration services.”

Douglas Kramer, general counsel for Cloudflare, said the services it provides do not include web-hosting services. “We’ve looked at those various sanctions regimes, we are comfortable that we are not in violation,” he told Reuters.

A spokesman for OnlineNIC said none of the sites declared a connection to Iran in their registration details, and the company was in full compliance with U.S. sanctions and trade embargoes.

The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) declined to comment on whether it planned an investigation.Iranians burn an effigy of U.S. President Donald Trump in Tehran, Iran June 8, 2018. Tasnim News Agency

ANOTHER WESTERN DAWN

The Kremlin is widely seen as the superpower in modern information warfare. From what is known so far, Russia’s influence operation – which Moscow denies – dwarfs Iran’s. According to Twitter, nearly 4,000 accounts connected to the Russian campaign posted over 9 million tweets between 2013 and 2018, against over 1 million tweets from fewer than 1,000 accounts believed to originate in Iran.

Even though the Iranian operation is smaller, it has had impact on volatile topics. AWDnews – the site with the focus on “unspoken truth” – ran a false story in 2016 which prompted Pakistan’s defense minister to warn on Twitter he had the weapons to nuke Israel. He only found out that the hoax was part of an Iranian operation when contacted by Reuters.

“It was a learning experience,” said the deceived politician, 69-year-old Khawaja Asif, who left Pakistan’s government earlier this year. “But one can understand that these sorts of things happen, because fake news has become something huge. It’s something which anyone is capable of now, which is very dangerous.”

Israeli officials did not respond to a request for comment.

AWDnews publishes in English, French, Spanish and German and, according to data from web analytics company SimilarWeb, receives around 12,000 unique visitors a month. Among others who shared stories from AWDnews and the other websites identified by Reuters were politicians in Britain, Jordan, India, and the Netherlands; human-rights activists; an Indian music composer and a Japanese rap star.

JOBS FOR WOMEN

FireEye, a U.S. cybersecurity firm, originally named six websites as part of the Iranian influence operation. Reuters examined those sites, and their content led to the Tehran-based International Union of Virtual Media.

IUVM is an array of 11 websites with names such as iuvmpress, iuvmapp and iuvmpixel. Together, they form a library of digital material, including mobile phone apps, items from Iranian state media and pictures, video clips and stories from elsewhere on the web, which support Tehran’s policies.

Tracking usage of IUVM content across the Internet led to sites which have used its material, registration details, or both. For instance, 22 of the sites have shared the same phone number, which does not work and has also been listed for IUVM. At least seven have used the same address, which belongs to a youth hostel in Berlin. Staff at the hostel told Reuters they had never heard of the sites in question. The site operators could not be reached to explain their links with IUVM.

Two sites even posted job advertisements for IUVM, inviting applications from women with “ability to work effectively and knowledge in dealing with social networks and (the) Internet.”

DEMOLISHED HOME

One of IUVM’s most popular users is a site called Sudan Today, which SimilarWeb data shows receives almost 150,000 unique visitors each month. On Facebook, it tells its 57,000 followers that it operates without political bias. Its 18,000 followers on Twitter have included the Italian Embassy in Sudan, and its work has been cited in a report by the Egyptian Electricity Ministry.

The office address registered for Sudan Today in 2016 covers a whole city district in north Khartoum, according to archived website registration details provided by WhoisAPI Inc and DomainTools LLC. The phone number listed in those records does not work.

Reuters could not trace staff members named on Sudan Today’s Facebook page. The five-star Corinthia hotel in central Khartoum, where the site says it hosted an anniversary party last year, told Reuters no such event took place. And an address listed on one of its social media accounts is a demolished home.

Sudan used to be an Iranian ally but has changed sides to align itself with Saudi Arabia, costing Tehran a foothold in the Horn of Africa just as it becomes more isolated by the West. In that environment, Iran sees itself as competing with Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United States for international support, and is taking the fight online, said Ariane Tabatabai, a senior associate and Iran expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.

Headlines on Sudan Today’s homepage include a daily round-up of stories from local newspapers and Ugandan soccer results. It also features reports on bread prices – which doubled in January after Khartoum eliminated subsidies, triggering demonstrations.

Ohad Zaidenberg, senior researcher at Israeli cybersecurity firm ClearSky, said this mixture of content provides the cover for narratives geared at influencing a target audience’s attitudes and perceptions.

The site also draws attention to Saudi Arabia’s military actions in Yemen. Since Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir ended his allegiance with Iran he has sent troops and jets to join Saudi-led forces in the Yemeni conflict.

One cartoon from IUVM published by Sudan Today in August shows Donald Trump astride a military jet with an overflowing bag of dollar bills tucked under one arm. The jet is draped with traditional Saudi dress and shown dropping bombs on a bloodstained map of Yemen. The map is littered with children’s toys and shoes.

Turkish cartoonist Mikail Çiftçi drew the original. He told Reuters he did not give Sudan Today permission to use it.This cartoon was copied by IUVM without permission from the artist.

Alnagi Albashra, a 28-year-old software developer in Khartoum, said he likes to read articles on Sudan Today in the evenings when waiting for his baby to fall asleep. But he and three other Sudan Today readers reached by Reuters had no idea who was behind the site.

“This is a big problem,” he said. “You can’t see that they are not in Sudan.”

Government officials in Khartoum, the White House, the Italian Embassy and the Egyptian Electricity Ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

BACKBONE

It is unclear who globally is tasked with responding to online disinformation campaigns like Iran’s, or what if any action they should take, said David Conrad, chief technology officer at ICANN, a non-profit which helps manage global web addresses.

Social media accounts can be deleted in bulk by the firms that provide the platforms. But the Iranian campaign’s backbone of websites makes it harder to dismantle than social media, because taking down a website often requires the cooperation of law enforcement, Internet service providers and web infrastructure companies.

Efforts by social media companies in the United States and Europe to tackle the campaign have had mixed results.

Shortly after being contacted by Reuters, Twitter suspended the accounts for Nile Net Online and Sudan Today. “Clear attribution is very difficult,” a spokeswoman said, but added that the company would continue to update a public database of tweets and accounts linked to state-backed information operations when it had new information.

Google did not respond directly to questions about the websites found by Reuters. The company has said it identified and closed 99 accounts which it says are linked to Iranian state media. “We’ve invested in robust systems to identify influence operations launched by foreign governments,” a spokeswoman said.

Facebook said it was aware of the websites found by Reuters and had removed five more Facebook pages. But a spokesman said that based on Facebook user data, the company was not yet able to link all the websites’ accounts to the Iranian activity found earlier. “In the past several months, we have removed hundreds of Pages, Groups, and accounts linked to Iranian actors engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior. We continue to remove accounts across our services and in all relevant languages,” he said.

Accounts linked to the Iranian sites remain active online, especially in languages other than English. On Nov. 30, 16 of the Iranian sites were still posting daily updates on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube – including Sudan Today and Nile Net Online. Between them, the social media accounts had more than 700,000 followers.

Article first published on Reuters.