Network of pro-India websites aimed at European policymakers uncovered

Investigators have uncovered a huge network of fake websites aimed at influencing European policy toward India and against its neighbor and bitter rival Pakistan.

Brussels-based organization EU Disinfo Lab says 265 websites across 65 countries, many using the names of defunct media outlets or names similar to existing trusted sources, all seem to be traceable to an Indian company, the Srivastava Group.

The alarm was initially raised when the nongovernmental organization investigated a website called EP Today, which claimed to be connected to the European Parliament in Brussels, but which was in fact taking a lot of its information directly from outlets including Russia Today. It was feared that it might be related to Russia, but on closer inspection the Indian connection was discovered.

"Among this syndicated content, we unexpectedly found that a large number of articles and op-eds related to minorities in Pakistan as well as other India-related matters," said a statement on the EU DisinfoLab website.

Alexandre Alaphilippe, executive director of EU Disinfo Lab, told the BBC: "More than the fake media outlets alone, it is their combination with the fake NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) that's really worrying because it provides a mirage of online and grassroots support to a cause. That's exactly where the disinformation lies."

Anti-Pakistan lobbying

No connection to India's government has emerged, but links have been found to groups with ties to anti-Pakistan lobbying events in Europe, as well as a large number of fake English-language sites, using names such as the Manchester Times, a newspaper that ceased publication in 1922, promoting Indian interests.

Another fake outlet is called the Times of Geneva, whose website has not been updated since the EU Disinfo Lab uncovered the network, and whose YouTube and Twitter accounts have been suspended.

Alaphilippe said it appeared that the main point of the network, which generated a surprisingly low amount of social media traffic for such a sophisticated looking setup, was pushing its agenda toward decision-makers.

"We think the main goal was to be able to reach policymakers in Brussels and Geneva, without being able to trace back to those behind the manipulative network. And this worked!" he told the BBC.

"MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) have engaged directly with this network on a multitude of levels, whether that's been through writing op-eds for their media, participating in overseas trips and news conferences, or by speaking in the European Parliament on behalf of the cause," he added.

As recently as October, 27 MEPs, including members of Britain's Brexit Party, Germany's far-right Alternative fur Deutschland and France's National Rally, formerly the National Front, were invited on an unofficial visit to India-controlled Kashmir, where access has been restricted for other people.

A British MEP, Chris Davies of the Liberal Democrats, told The Washington Post that he had been disinvited from the trip after requesting that journalists also be allowed along and that he should be able to speak to local people, unaccompanied by security officials.