DisInfo Lab Targeting US-Based Critics Of PM Modi: The Washington Post Report (Image: Pixabay)
In a recently published article titled “Covert Indian operation seeks to discredit Modi’s critics in the U.S”, The Washington Post alleged that an organisation called the Disinfo Lab has been targeting US-based critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi through social media posts and dossiers since 2020. However, Disinfo Lab rejected all the allegations and stated that they would reply to this report shortly.
The Washington Post accused Disinfo Lab of mixing facts with unsubstantiated claims to portray US government officials, researchers, and humanitarian groups as part of a conspiracy to undermine India. The report, citing sources, alleges that the Disinfo Lab was set up and is run by an Indian intelligence officer to research and discredit foreign critics of the PM Modi government. It also added that the organisation is running a covert influence operation.
“The organization’s material is among the most widely circulated by right-wing Indians and Hindu nationalists,” said the report prepared by Gerry Shih, Clara Ence Morse, and Pranshu Verma. The Washington Post alleges that the reports prepared by Disinfo Lab gain global reach, partly because they are circulated on social media by high-profile figures on X. The report alleges that the organisation was founded by Lt. Col. Dibya Satpathy, a 39-year-old intelligence officer, in mid-2020.
According to the report, social media researchers have uncovered large Indian online networks over the past five years that promote the BJP’s foreign policy to foreign and domestic audiences. Disinfo Lab has published 28 reports so far and mainly portrays India as under attack by a “nexus” of conspirators funded by Pakistani intelligence, the Muslim Brotherhood, and George Soros, a Hungarian-American billionaire. The Disinfo Lab reports allege connections between these funds and various US-based individuals critical of PM Modi. This includes Pramila Jayapal, an American politician.
The Washington Post, citing three unnamed sources, reported that Disinfo Lab shared its office with a separate team headed by a career RAW intelligence officer until 2021. As per the report, the organisation has often served as a rapid-reaction force to counter criticisms of the PM Modi government. The social media posts by Disinfo Labs often gain enhanced authority as they spread online because of the prominence of their retweeters, according to the report.
The Disinfo Lab has given only one interview so far and acknowledged that it was founded in 2020 by people with political and marketing backgrounds. In that written interview with an Indian freelance journalist, Sandhya Ravishankar, the organisation claimed that it depended mostly on conventional open-source intelligence-gathering methods. Meanwhile, the Disinfo Lab denied all the allegations raised by The Washington Post. “In a barely disguised revenge piece, WaPo has accused us of targeting ‘activists’ & ‘philanthropists’. We will reply to each line in the report shortly,” wrote the Disinfo Lab on its X handle on December 11.
