More than 250 websites are reported to spread false news to influence the European Union and the United Nations in the India-Pakistan conflict over Kashmir. This is what the independent NGO EU DisinfoLab revealed in a study published on Monday 16 December, pinpointing a member of the European Economic and Social Committee.
In its investigation, EU DisinfoLab explains that it started from the discovery made by the EU External Action Service that the website EP Today pretended to be a European Parliament website, when in fact it was a platform disseminating pro-Russian content. After further digging, EU DisinfoLab announces that it has broken through a vast network of more than 250 websites operating in 65 countries “that repeatedly criticise Pakistan”. According to the researchers, these sites are linked to an Indian company, Srivastava Group, which has close links with a member of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC).
“We believe that the main objective was to be able to reach political decision-makers in Brussels and Geneva, without being able to trace back to those behind the manipulation network. And it worked!” Alexandre Alaphilippe, Executive Director of the NGO, told the BBC, who confirms that MEPs “have been directly involved with this network at many levels”. The EESC replied to British media that its members were independent of any government. Link to the report: http://bit.ly/2tmiaUZ (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)