Cyber army 'disinformation': India among seven countries rated as top global influencers

By Rajiv Shah
An Oxford University study, “The Global Disinformation Order 2019”, has found that India is one of the seven top countries around the world where “a handful of sophisticated state actors use computational propaganda for foreign influence operations”. It adds, Facebook and Twitter has identified India, along with China, Iran, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, which use the two social media platforms “to influence global audiences.”
Authored by Samantha Bradshaw and Philip N Howard, the study examines “cyber troop activity” in 70 countries, pointing out, the “foreign influence operations” in the seven countries are carried out as “highly secretive phenomenon”, adding, it acquires the form or “social media manipulation” by “politicians, political parties, private contractors, civil society organizations (CSOs), citizens and influencers.”
Tracking the prevalence of fake accounts, the study states, in India bots and humans are used for this by cyber armies in India. While bots are called “are highly automated accounts designed to mimic human behaviour online”, and are used for amplifying narratives to “drown out political dissent”, the study believes, “Even more common than bots are human-run accounts, which do not make use of automation. Instead they engage in conversations by posting comments or tweets, or by private messaging individuals via social media platforms.”

Countries allegedly engaged in foreign influence operations

According to the study, cyber troops in India seek to engage in conversations with users online in order to spreading pro-government or pro-party propaganda, attacking the opposition, even as mounting smear campaigns; seek to drive divisions and polarization, and suppressing participation “through personal attacks or harassment.”
The study identifies India among the “medium-capacity” countries for such operations, the study says, the country has “multiple teams” doing this having the size ranging from 50 to 300 people, which is done through “multiple contracts” and advertising, whose expenditure values a whopping 1.4M USD.

Beyond the 'silent relocation' narrative in Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts

By Dr. Mohammad Asaduzzaman* In recent years, a narrative has emerged from the rugged and forested terrain of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), portraying the region as the site of a “silent relocation” — a mass forced migration of Bangladesh’s non-Muslim ethnic communities into neighboring India and Myanmar.

The farmer's burden: How oil, war, and climate are rewriting the price of food

By Vikas Meshram The scorching flames of the Middle East conflict are now slowly reaching the kitchens of ordinary people. The true price of this war is paid in daily markets, vegetable shops, and in the shattered minds of farmers. Expensive crude oil, skyrocketing fertilizer prices, and rising agricultural costs are together creating the conditions for global food inflation — and this crisis is directly tied to what people eat and drink every day.

Ram, Bam and Bengal: Memories of a Left turn toward the Right

By Rajiv Shah The BJP ’s massive electoral win in West Bengal is being interpreted across political persuasions — except, of course, by the BJP itself — as the result of the alleged deletion of around 90 lakh voters from the electoral rolls during the controversial intensive revision process. This may well be true, given my own experience in Gujarat regarding the shoddy manner in which electoral revisions have often been conducted. In West Bengal, there also appeared to be a political angle to the exercise. But I am not interested in discussing that here, as enough has already appeared in the media on the subject.

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