Indian TV played footage from a video game claiming it showed Pakistani Air Force activity in Afghanistan. The erroneous footage was the first broadcast on Hasti TV, an Afghan channel based in the UK. There have been several other examples of Indian media getting facts wrong on Pakistani involvement in Afghanistan. Notably, India Today broadcast a fake Tweet showing an image of a downed Pakistani jet. In reality, the image was taken in the US in 2018 and concerned a US Air Force jet.

https://youtu.be/SAf24lmUaJo

#US President Biden to #Indian PM #Modi: "The Indian press is much better behaved than the American press...And I think, with your permission, we should not answer questions because they won't ask any questions on point" Modi agreed. #QUAD #Media #Freedom https://youtu.be/scY3O3WM8Mg

Joe Biden: "The Indian press is much better behaved than the American press...And I think, with your permission, we should not answer questions because they won't ask any questions on point"

Modi said he completely agreed with Biden as they began their talks in the Oval Office.

As the two leaders sat down, Biden said: "I think what they're going to do is bring in the press. The Indian press is much better behaved than the American press"

And I think, with your permission, we should not answer questions because they won't ask any questions on point.

Modi said he completely agreed with him.

While the two leaders have met earlier when Biden was the Vice President of the country, this is for the first time that Biden is meeting Modi after he became the 46th president of the US in January.

#Indians are unhappy with #Modi’s treatment in #America !

https://twitter.com/haqsmusings/status/1442258693517549568?s=20

4 key complaints:

1. Biden did not receive Modi at the White House porch.

2. US media did not cover Modi's visit. (Imran Khan was on Newsweek cover while Modi was in Washington).

3. Kamala Harris lectured Modi on democracy.

4. Joe Biden lectured Modi on tolerance.

#Trump received #ImranKhan at the White House driveway. #Biden did not bother to come out to receive Modi. #Modi entered through the backdoor.

https://twitter.com/haqsmusings/status/1442277474218303488?s=20

What the likes of Republic TV & Zee News won’t tell you. Modi’s visit was presented as a major world event by #Indian media & huge success but there was barely any mention of #Modi's visit in #US #media except as footnote under #QuadSummit. #GodiMedia https://www.newslaundry.com/2021/09/27/pm-modis-us-visit-what-the-l...

A major world event and a huge success — but only by the Indian media for their audience back home.

-----------

The media reactions to the visit and its aftermath followed the usual playbook. Republic TV made it sound like Modi was the only foreign dignitary to speak at the UNGA. Zee News ran with silly stories of “Josh high in Washington,” and breathless accounts of a grand welcome home. Aaj Tak was keen to emphasise how this trip had many firsts. Times Now presented it as a pivotal geopolitical moment.

-------------------

Some things do not change. Even in 2019, PM Modi’s visit was presented as a major world event and a huge success but only by the Indian media for their audience back home, but it barely registered as a footnote in the US media. Then too, as Shoaib Danyal put it, “jingoism took precedence over factual reporting about the UN session”. There was barely a mention of the Modi visit in the US media save a brief mention in the context of the QUAD meeting, much to the surprise of Aaj Tak anchor Anjana Om Kashyap who tried flicking through a selection of US papers on air to spot coverage of the Modi visit.

Indeed very few Indian media outlets, if any at all, took the trouble to research what the 76th UNGA was about, and what the stand was of the other world leaders who also addressed the General Assembly. A cursory search on Google would have led even a rookie journalist to a wealth of information about the agenda, background papers, and issues before the UN.

Instead they focused exclusively and breathlessly on the 20-minute long address by PM Modi on September 25. The speech itself was as might have been expected. It sounded like a robust and combative defense of the Indian Government’s record in office in the last seven years; set against a backdrop of statements about India as an ancient democratic civilisation that inherently valued diversity, individual freedom, development, trade, openness and peace.

There was the obligatory reference to terrorism, of course, and how a certain neighbour sought to rely on terrorism rather than development to further its political aims.

Speaking in Hindi with instantaneous translation by the UN team into several languages, Modi’s speech at the UN was not the eagerly anticipated address that Indian media channels would have you believe. It was left to social media and Twitter handles to point out the preponderance of vacant seats in the assembly Hall

In the final analysis, it depends very much on the newspaper you read or the TV news you watch to get a feel for how important or influential the Indian PM’s visit to the US was. Perhaps, the truth is somewhere between the breathless fawning coverage of the TV channels that are beholden to the Government for its largesse and the somewhat cynical view expressed in this tweet thread.

Such visits by the head of the country’s government to gatherings of major world leaders are important and necessary, even if not essential — because not to make the effort to travel and be seen would be an own goal. But part of the magic is to manage expectations, say the right things at the right time, but to do so in an understated manner that does not make the audience cynical. But perhaps the most important thing is to be accessible to the world’s press.

This visit to the United States was the 6th by Mr Modi. And while there were many ‘firsts’ that his supporters claimed for it, regrettably it was not the first foreign trip in which the Indian Prime Minister gave a press conference.

Is #Indian press better behaved than the #American press, as #Biden said to #Modi at #WhiteHouse? Fact: "The Indian press is ranked 142nd in the world, according to Reporters Without Borders on press freedom" #ModiInAmerica #ModiBornToDestroyDemocracy https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/white-house-defends-bi...

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Monday faced a number of questions on Biden's comments.

Psaki said: "I think what he (Biden) said is that they (American journalists) are not always “on point.”

From India Today: Pakistan captain Babar Azam and his opening partner Mohammad Rizwan made light work of the 152-run chase, getting to the target in the 18th over to break the World Cup jinx and register their first-ever 10-wicket win in a T20I match.

This was Pakistan's first-ever win against India in a World Cup match of any format. It was also their maiden T20I win by 10 wickets over any opposition and the highest opening stand against India in the format. It was also India's first 10-wicket defeat in the format.

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/heres-how-indian-political-le...

--------------------

Rare honesty seen today on India's ZeeNews after Pakistan's "One-sided win" against India in T20 World Cup. Analysis by India's ex cricketers Mohammad Kaif & Harpal Bedi

https://fb.watch/8RNaT-R4lD/

In India, Facebook Grapples With an Amplified Version of Its Problems
Internal documents show a struggle with misinformation, hate speech and celebrations of violence in the country, the company’s biggest market.

The documents include reports on how bots and fake accounts tied to the country’s ruling party and opposition figures were wreaking havoc on national elections. They also detail how a plan championed by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, to focus on “meaningful social interactions,” or exchanges between friends and family, was leading to more misinformation in India, particularly during the pandemic.

www.nytimes.com/2021/10/23/technology/facebook-india-misinformation..." target="_blank">https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2021/10/23/technology/facebook-india-misinformation...

#UK court fines firm over #India's Republic TV show. #British #Pakistani businessman Aneel Mussarat was referred to as an “ISI stooge” on the show on July 22, 2020. His photograph was also broadcast. #Pakistan #ISI @official_Arnab_ https://indianexpress.com/article/india/uk-court-fines-firm-over-re... via @IndianExpress

A LONDON court has fined the company, which has the licence to broadcast Arnab Goswami’s Republic TV in the UK, £37,500 for defaming a British businessman who was called a “ISI stooge” on the news show.

The High Court Of Justice, Queen’s Bench Division underlined that “the programme contained no evidence whatsoever to support its assertions” while holding that the allegations were “likely to cause serious harm to the reputation of the Claimant”.

The claimant, Aneel Mussarat, a British businessman of Pakistani origin, was referred to as an “ISI stooge” on the show on July 22, 2020. His photograph was also broadcast along with captions that read: “Should Bollywood declare any links to pro-Pakistan, pro-terror, anti-India individuals and groups?” and “Should Bollywood renounce any links with Pakistanis who take a pro-terrorist line?”

“The programme contained serious allegations against the Claimant, who was identified by both his image and his name,” the court ruling said.

Worldview Media Network Ltd, a registered company in the UK which holds a licence with Ofcom to broadcast Republic Bharat did not participate in the legal proceedings.

“The Defendant is neither present nor represented and I have received no representations on its behalf. I have been assisted by the submissions, both written and oral, of Mr William McCormick QC who appears on behalf of the Claimant,” the order read.

“With regard to the claim for damages, I have no hesitation in concluding that the Claimant would be entitled to an award substantially in excess of the maximum permissible under 9(1)(c) but his decision to limit his claim is pragmatic in the light of the Defendant’s failure to engage and the dim prospects of recovering any of the damages awarded,” the ruling said.

The court relied on precedents that have held that any allegation of terrorism is to be regarded as extremely serious and highly damaging allowing awards of general damages well into six figures.

In December 2020, the British broadcasting regulator has also fined the company £20,000 for a debate on the channel that it found contravened the code against “hate speech”.

Hindu Nationalists often quote known fake sites set up by their Hindutva friends. These sites have now been fully exposed.

Both Op India and thedisinfolab.org are part of the Hindutva disinformation campaigns to spew hatred against Muslims.

OpIndia is a propaganda outlet controlled by BJP.

OpIndia: Hate speech, vanishing advertisers, and an undisclosed BJP connection
Ashok Kumar Gupta, the director of OpIndia’s holding company, has had affiliations with the Sangh Parivar.

https://www.newslaundry.com/2020/06/23/opindia-hate-speech-vanishin...

“In India, politics and journalism attract some of the worst brains, thanks to the system that has evolved over time,” read the About Us section of OpIndia, a popular Hindu supremacist website, in December 2014, nearly a year after it was launched. “OpIndia.com is an attempt to break free of this system.”


https://thedisinfolab.org is a clone of EU Disinfo Lab set up by Hindu Nationalists to fool the world.

The real EU Disinfo Lab website is https://www.disinfo.eu/

Here's a link to the REAL Disinfo Lab: https://www.disinfo.eu/publications/indian-chronicles-deep-dive-int...

Indian Chronicles: deep dive into a 15-year operation targeting the EU and UN to serve Indian interests

Following a preliminary investigation published in 2019, the EU DisinfoLab uncovered a massive operation targeting international institutions and serving Indian interests. “Indian Chronicles” – the name we gave to this operation – resurrected dead media, dead think-tanks and NGOs. It even resurrected dead people. This network is active in Brussels and Geneva in producing and amplifying content to undermine – primarily – Pakistan.

Irony: Indians clone EU Disinfo Lab website in propaganda push

Disinformation Campaign on Twitter: Pro-India accounts ...
https://digitalrightsfoundation.pk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Disin...


Indian Chronicles: deep dive into a 15-year operation targeting the EU and UN to serve Indian interests.
https://www.disinfo.eu/publications/indian-chronicles-deep-dive-int...


Disinfo Lab: An Online Hindu Nationalist Disinformation ...
https://bylinetimes.com/2022/02/09/disinfo-lab-an-online-hindu-nati...
Feb 9, 2022 — CJ Werleman looks at evidence of a co-ordinated and sophisticated effort to smear critics of the right wing Indian Prime Minister.


Pro-Indian 'fake websites targeted decision makers in Europe'
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-50749764
Dec 16, 2019 — A global network of pro-Indian fake websites and think-tanks is aimed at influencing decision-making in Europe, researchers say.

The co-ordinated network of 265 sites operates across 65 countries, according to a report by EU Disinfo Lab, a Brussels-based NGO.

The researchers traced the websites to an Indian company, Srivastava Group.

The network was also found to involve groups responsible for anti-Pakistan lobbying events in Europe


Disinformation Campaign on Twitter: Pro-India accounts ...
https://digitalrightsfoundation.pk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Disin...
Oct 22, 2020 — On the eve and day of October 21, 2020, there was a flurry of pro-India Twitter accounts creating the narrative that there was a ‘civil war’ unfolding in Pakistan




The dead professor and the vast pro-India disinformation ...
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-55232432
Dec 10, 2020 — The EU DisinfoLab researchers, who are based in Brussels, believe the network's purpose is to disseminate propaganda against India's neighbour ...


Indian Chronicles: EU Think Tank Claims to Have Uncovered 15-Year-Old Pro-India Influence Operation
https://www.newshoundindia.foundation/blog-details.asp?id=514
Dec 12, 2020 — A European Union (EU) non-profit group researching disinformation campaigns claims to have unearthed a 2005 influence operation “targeting international institutions and serving Indian interests”, which carried out by “dead media, dead think-tanks and NGOs” and in some cases, “dead people”.

“It is the largest network we have exposed,” said Alexandre Alaphilippe, executive director of EU DisinfoLab (DL) to the BBC. He added, “It was designed primarily to discredit Pakistan internationally and influence decision-making at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and European Parliament.”

That study began as a probe into possible Russian disinformation when articles published on Russia Today were republished on a website, ‘EP Today’, which led the investigators to the network of sites and NGOs, largely linked to the New Delhi-based Srivastava Group (SG).


Irony: Indians clone EU Disinfo Lab website in propaganda push
https://www.samaaenglish.tv/news/2515024
Feb 12, 2022 — Australian journalist exposes forgery, gets Twitter to remove verified status

In December 2020, the EU Disinfo Lab exposed a network of Indian websites pushing false information across the internet. In an ironic turn of events, Indians now have cloned the Disinfo Lab website to advance their propaganda, targetting Muslims and specifically Pakistanis and Kashmiris.


The Indian clone of Disinfo Lab became active soon after the EU Disinfo Lab first published a preliminary investigation in 2019 and then in December 2020 released the “Indian Chronicles,” a report detailing 750 "fake media outlest", fake editors and journalists, UN-accredited NGOs, and cases of identity theft to target Pakistan.

Impact Of Fake News On Pakistan – OpEd

https://www.eurasiareview.com/10012023-impact-of-fake-news-on-pakis...

By Muhammad Usman Ghani


Pakistan, like the rest of the world, is facing a major threat from fake news. Access to news, political division, manipulation of social media conversations, trust in the news media, health information, and hate speech are all things that fake news has caused or spread.

According to a report by Media Matters for Democracy (MMfD), from 2015 to 2020, the number of Pakistani broadband Internet users went from 17 million to 83 million, which is almost a fourfold increase. The number of mobile broadband users grew the most. Despite a considerable digital divide—Internet penetration is less than 44% of the population—the availability of 3G and 4G mobile Internet has also led to a small but consistent growth in social media use. From 2013 on, political debates on the two biggest social media sites, Facebook and Twitter, became more popular in Pakistan. This followed a trend that was almost identical to the one seen in the United States. MMfD published that nine out of ten Pakistanis currently see disinformation as an issue, and seventy percent of the population thinks Facebook’s platform is utilized most often to propagate misinformation in the nation.

Fake news messages have significantly impacted the public’s opinion of Pakistan’s anti-polio vaccination campaign. In order to discourage parents from vaccinating their children, these misinformation tactics draw on existing vaccine scepticism and common religious or xenophobic stereotypes. In 2019, a fake video about how vaccinations affect children caused hundreds of thousands of Facebook users to interact with false anti-vaccine information. This may have been part of a chain of events that led to the suspension of the country’s anti-polio vaccination campaign. Similarly, press reports and public surveys revealed that COVID-19 misinformation campaigns caused many to believe the coronavirus was a foreign scheme, an overblown danger, or a fake. Such ideas seem to have directly affected people’s attitude about COVID-19 precautions, as seen by the public’s irresponsible behavior before the second coronavirus outbreak in Pakistan. The COVID-19 deception also caused some to avoid medical care and commit violent crimes against health personnel. People were getting the wrong idea from fake messages and conspiracy theories that doctors were working together to make more people die from the coronavirus.

“DisInfo Lab,” a non-governmental organization based in the EU, created a matrix of the Indian misinformation campaign in 2019 and 2020. This campaign relied heavily on fake news sources in social media and mainstream media to lobby international and civil society against Pakistan. Since 2005, the Indian news agency Asian News International (ANI) and the Delhi-based Shrivastava group have contributed to the creation of 256 anti-Pakistan websites that disseminate false information to 65 countries. Reports say that important parts of the larger syndicate were social organizations and humanitarian groups with ties to the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU). Nearly ten UNHRC-affiliated NGOs have been identified as spreading anti-Pakistan propaganda. During the campaign, Dr. Louis B. Sohn, a Harvard professor of International Humanitarian Law, took part in humanitarian conferences about the Baloch separatist movement in 2011.

This cyber misinformation effort, which lasted for over a decade, was reportedly signed in placing Pakistan on the “grey list” of the FATF, which carries accusations of funding violent extremism. Since then, Pakistan has worked hard to change the mix of false ideas about it. The current government of Pakistan has put out a detailed report on how India has lied and been dishonest in international affairs. Still, the United Nations Security Council and its important P5 members haven’t done much to deal with or stop the growing threat.

#India (ranked 161 among 180 countries) drops below #Pakistan (ranked 150) in #PressFreedomIndex Rankings for 2023. In the rankings for 2022, it was India that was ranked 150, while Pakistan came in at 157. #Fakenews #Modi #BJP #Hindutva #Fascism https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-slips-in-world-press-f...

https://twitter.com/haqsmusings/status/1654946945734168576?s=20


India slips in World Press Freedom Index, ranks 161 out of 180 countries
In comparison, Pakistan climbed up seven ranks to reach 150 this year.
May 03, 2023 10:34 am | Updated May 04, 2023 10:47 am IST - New Delhi

THE HINDU BUREAU

India’s ranking in the 2023 World Press Freedom Index has slipped to 161 out of 180 countries, according to the latest report released by global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF). In comparison, Pakistan has fared better when it comes to media freedom as it was placed at 150, an improvement from last year’s 157th rank. In 2022, India was ranked at 150.

Sri Lanka also made significant improvement on the index, ranking 135th this year as against 146th in 2022

Norway, Ireland and Denmark occupied the top three positions in press freedom, while Vietnam, China and North Korea constituted the bottom three.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) comes out with a global ranking of press freedom every year. RSF is an international NGO whose self-proclaimed aim is to defend and promote media freedom. Headquartered in Paris, it has consultative status with the United Nations. The objective of the World Press Freedom Index, which it releases every year, “is to compare the level of press freedom enjoyed by journalists and media in 180 countries and territories” in the previous calendar year.

Also read: Exponential rise in attacks on press freedom: PCI-IWPC

RSF defines press freedom as “the ability of journalists as individuals and collectives to select, produce, and disseminate news in the public interest independent of political, economic, legal, and social interference and in the absence of threats to their physical and mental safety.”

Concerns arise
The Indian Women's Press Corps, the Press Club of India, and the Press Association released a joint statement voicing their concern over the country's dip in the index.

"The indices of press freedom have worsened in several countries, including India, according to the latest RSF report," the joint statement said.

"For developing democracies in the Global South where deep pockets of inequities exist, the media's role cannot be understated. Likewise the constraints on press freedom due to hostile working conditions like contractorisation have to also be challenged. Insecure working conditions can never contribute to a free press," it added.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor too, commented on the embarrassing development.

"Time for all of us to hang our heads in shame: India slips in World Press Freedom Index, ranks 161 out of 180 countries," he wrote on Twitter.

Prashant Bhushan
@pbhushan1
"Indian govt told Twitter to black out farmers protests&tweets by journalists critical of the govt. Threatened to shut Twitter down in India&raid the homes of Twitter employees, which they did. And India is supposed to be a democratic country!": Jack Dorsey, former CEO of Twitter

https://twitter.com/pbhushan1/status/1668351603433168924?s=20

Meta’s India team delayed action against Army-led misinformation operation in Kashmir: Washington Post - The Hindu



https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/metas-india-team-delayed-act...

Facebook parent Meta’s Indian team delayed action against an organised propaganda and misinformation operation led by the Indian Army’s Chinar Corps in Jammu and Kashmir for a year, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing former employees at the company. According to the report, Army officials met representatives of Twitter and Facebook and defended the operation as a counter against Pakistani misinformation networks.

The report cited members of Meta’s Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior (CIB) team for Facebook, whose brief was to flag fake profiles and networks of accounts that artificially amplified messages on the social network around the world. When the CIB flagged the Chinar Corps’s alleged operation, Meta staff in India reportedly “warned against antagonising the government of a sovereign nation over actions in territory it controls,” and expressed concern that local employees “could be imprisoned for treason,” the Post reported.

Disinformation campaign
It is unclear what the Chinar Corps’ network was posting, but the report cites “disinformation that put Kashmiri journalists in danger,” adding that many CIB employees at Facebook quit the company after Indian Meta staff stymied any pushback. The operation reportedly targeted Srinagar-based media outlet The Kashmiriyat and its editor Qazi Shibli. The Hindu has reached out to Army representatives for comment.

“As a global company, we operate in an increasingly complex regulatory environment and are focused on keeping people safe when they use our services and ensuring the safety of our employees in a manner consistent with applicable laws and human rights principles,” Meta said in a statement shared with The Hindu, adding that it prohibited coordinated inauthentic behaviour on its platforms.



This is not the first time the social media firm has been accused of allowing propaganda networks in India to go unchecked. In 2020, The Wall Street Journal reported that posts by Telangana BJP MLA T. Raja Singh calling for violence against Rohingya immigrants from Myanmar were not taken down, in spite of warnings from Meta staff in the U.S., due to pushback from Ankhi Das, Mr. Thukral’s predecessor.