- 10 minutes ago
This special report details how a new transparency feature on X is unmasking foreign accounts influencing India's domestic conversations. India Today's OSINT team uncovered thousands of accounts based in Pakistan and West Asia posing as Indian citizens to post on sensitive issues like the Bihar elections and the NRC-CAA protests. The programme examines the geopolitical, domestic, and security dimensions of this digital information warfare, with experts discussing the significant legal gaps in Indian law to combat such coordinated campaigns. Advocate of the Supreme Court, Dr. Pawan Duggal, states, 'Currently, we do not have adequate protections under applicable Indian law. The Information Technology Act 2000 is completely silent on fake news.' The discussion also explores the limitations of technology in detecting VPN users and the need for social media platforms to be held more accountable.
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00:00Propaganda exposed
00:09Global clicks, local chaos
00:15From Red Fort Blast to Bihar ballot battle
00:21Narrative Ninjas behind screens unmasked
00:42Who is driving the digital storm?
00:46That is a big India to the exclusion
00:55This is NewsTrack and I'm Maria Shakil
00:57Geopolitics is ultimately a game of power
01:00And while many nations avoid physical battlefields
01:04They are now fighting on a different one
01:07This is the digital battlefield
01:10A new kind of weapon is trending
01:12One that doesn't use missiles
01:15But narratives
01:17And a new transparency feature on X
01:20Has opened a Pandora's box
01:22Rolled out over the weekend
01:24The about this account feature
01:27Reveals a user's actual country and region
01:30Based on internet activity
01:32And not what they claim in their bio
01:35It also shows how often a user name has been changed
01:39A key indicator of suspicious behaviour
01:42The world is seeing what many suspected for years
01:46That coordinated political campaigns are being run by accounts
01:49Pretending to be local citizens
01:52In the United States, foreign accounts posing as Americans
01:56Were exposed while promoting the MAGA campaign
02:00In India, the impact is even more significant
02:03In fact, India Today's OSINT team
02:06Has found thousands of accounts posing as Indian users
02:11While operating from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and West Asia
02:15They were deeply involved in conversations on politically sensitive issues
02:20Such as the farmers' protests
02:22The NRCCAA protests
02:26And also during the recently concluded Bihar elections
02:31Let me give you one example
02:33Chatur Vey Diswat
02:36This account has a profile photo of an Indian woman
02:40There is a Jai Hind in the bio
02:43Posts Indian national issues
02:45But X shows it is based in Pakistan
02:48Our OSINT team has found
02:51That there were thousands of posts
02:53Criticising the centre
02:54And this account is a clear example
02:56Of how narratives are being weaponised
02:59So what does this mean?
03:01These narratives
03:03In fact, these operators
03:06Are shaping opinions
03:07Manipulating trends
03:09And infiltrating online communities
03:11And this isn't the first time
03:13That social media
03:14Or social media influencer
03:16Has been used
03:17To peddle propaganda
03:19We have seen an influencer
03:20Being groomed
03:21To push pro-Pakistan narratives
03:23Jyoti Malhotra
03:25This lady
03:26A travel vlogger
03:28Showcased curated propaganda
03:31This brings me to the question
03:32That we are asking on the show tonight
03:34That for a digital battlefield
03:37Where opinions can be shaped across borders
03:40Without us even realising it
03:42So what really is going to happen
03:44In days and months to come?
03:45Are there enough laws?
03:48And how should the legal perspective be shaped?
03:51Joining me on the show tonight
03:53Enes Nappi Nai
03:54Is an advocate of the Supreme Court
03:55And founder of Cyber Saathi
03:57We have Veena Sikri
03:59Former Indian diplomat
04:00Kanish Gaur is a technology expert
04:03And we also have
04:04Senior editor of the OSINT team
04:06Ankit Kumar
04:07Ankit, I am going to begin with you
04:09As someone
04:10And also
04:11Dr. Pawan Dugal
04:13Advocate of the Supreme Court
04:14Joins us as well
04:15Ankit, beginning with you
04:17The challenge certainly is
04:19Of realising
04:21The scale at which
04:23These, you know
04:25Propaganda
04:26Ideas are operating
04:28So when we take this example
04:30Of Bihar elections
04:31Can you give us a sense
04:32Of how many such accounts
04:34Fake accounts
04:35Were operating
04:36And they had an opinion
04:37On Bihar elections
04:38And whose side were they peddling for?
04:41So, there are three aspects
04:42To this entire thing
04:43First is the domestic political issue
04:45As you rightly said
04:46The Bihar elections
04:47Is one example
04:48The reason why our team
04:49Had the ability to go through
04:51All the disinformation campaigns
04:52Is because we already have been tracking
04:53A lot of coordinated campaigns
04:54When we say coordinated campaigns
04:55What we mean is that
04:56Batch accounts
04:57Posting
04:58Similar posts
04:59Or sometimes
05:00100% copy based jobs
05:01And trying to propagate
05:02One narrative
05:03So, I will give you one example
05:04Of foreign accounts
05:06Interfering in India's domestic political scene
05:22Last year there was a violence in Sambal
05:25For those who don't know
05:26Sambal is in the Pradesh
05:28There was a communal tension
05:29We have evidence to show that
05:32that Pakistan-based account, which if you see their bio, their identity, they pretend
05:40to be India-based, Uttar Pradesh-based citizens, they have made very sensitive, very aggressive
05:47comments, which had the ability to cause communal tension.
05:52So, we have those kind of accounts.
05:54In Bihar election, Marias, there are accounts which are based in Pakistan, but have kind
06:00of criticized the policies of the central government.
06:03I will give you two other aspects.
06:05One is geopolitical.
06:08Six months before, Sheikh Hasina was toppled, her government was toppled out of power in
06:14Bangladesh.
06:15Our team did a story.
06:16We had established that there was a massive anti-India campaign going on, which was linked
06:23to thousands of accounts based in UK.
06:25Before that, we had already seen one such campaign in Maldives, which was the India Out
06:30campaign, which an EU body established that had footprints of foreign influence operations.
06:37And then there is security angle.
06:40Back in 2020, during India-China conflict, there was this famous account of Cathy Rolanova, a
06:46Russia-based security expert.
06:48And everything she posted was kind of, you know, taken at face value because the profile
06:54belonged to a Russia-based military blogger.
06:56So, you have security angle, you have domestic political angle, and as you rightly said, there
07:01is geopolitical angle.
07:02Yes, absolutely.
07:03Dr. Dugal, you know, many would say that X has used this feature that will detect and
07:09reveal the origin, the geographical origins of user accounts.
07:14But if they are, you know, influencing narratives at this scale, and there is a coordinated
07:21campaign, hate campaigns also, then what can countries such as ours do?
07:28What legal protections do we have?
07:32Currently, we do not have adequate protections under applicable Indian law.
07:37The Information Technology Act 2000 is completely silent on fake news.
07:41Similarly, the Bharatiya Nyai Sahita also does not have adequate provisions, though we can
07:48try to bring fake news publication under the broad ambit of electronic forgery for purposes
07:54of cheating or harming repetition of another's under the BRS.
07:58However, that's not going to be sufficient.
08:01Please remember, we are now the largest democracy in the world.
08:05We are now the most populous nation in the world.
08:08And we are also now the most hungry AI population in the world.
08:13More and more population in India is quickly adapting to AI than in any other country.
08:18Therefore, trying to peddle, trying to create, disseminate, forward or distribute a particular
08:24narrative becomes very easy in the Indian context.
08:27The absence of a dedicated law on fake news or fake information rather complicates the entire
08:33scenario.
08:33India needs to learn from countries like Thailand, from Singapore, from France and come up with
08:40dedicated legal provisions, number one.
08:42Number two, India is very, very soft on intermediaries and service providers.
08:46Gone are the days where we must treat the intermediaries with a hallowed kind of an approach around them.
08:52You have to make intermediaries and service providers responsible.
08:56They cannot be allowed to be mute spectators.
08:58Section 79, 2C says that these intermediaries must exercise due diligence while they discharge
09:05their obligations under the law.
09:07However, the government has still not specified the minimum requirements for due diligence
09:12specifically in the context of publication, distribution or dissemination of fake information.
09:18Barring one particular line under the IT rules 2021, we have nothing much to do.
09:22And I think the intermediaries need to be made responsible for the fake news that gets generated
09:29on the platform.
09:30And they must be asked to remove the fake news within two hours.
09:34The current time limit or limit of 15 days is a time limit that got potentially got a reference
09:41to the dinosaur age.
09:43Today, fake news or the fake narrative changes people's perspectives instantaneously.
09:48So hence, that content needs to be removed at the earliest possible but not later than
09:54two hours.
09:55Anything beyond two hours will cause an impact upon the sovereignty, security and integrity
10:00of India.
10:01So a lot of work needs to be done.
10:02Yes, absolutely.
10:03And the fact is that X has done it.
10:06Other social media platforms should also come in.
10:08So Ambassador Sikri, many would say that foreign-based accounts trying to influence conversations
10:15in India on social media platforms may not be new.
10:20We were aware of it, particularly during the farmers' protests, that there were a lot
10:25of Khalistani accounts trying to influence the narrative here in India.
10:30In terms of geopolitical implications, can India take it up with any foreign country that
10:38these accounts are based in your country, the action must be initiated there?
10:43Can that be done?
10:45Of course, we can take it up if we are quite sure that this is the case.
10:49So I think while the talk, as you are quite rightly saying, the suspicion that this was
10:53happening, that foreign hands were influencing, was always there.
10:57It was always being discussed also among the agencies, among the media and so on.
11:02But there was never any proof.
11:04I do think that this new feature on X by Elon Musk and his group is very valuable.
11:11It will prevent misinformation.
11:13It will allow early detection.
11:15Because actually, the moment we were discussing, as you always did, that this is caused by fake
11:20news from abroad, everybody would say, oh, you're just talking of the foreign hand.
11:24You know, you're just blaming it on the foreign hand.
11:26But now, with this new feature, which I hope stays on and is not altered or changed, and
11:33X has done an excellent initiative, Twitter, you know, the new X has done an excellent
11:38initiative in taking this about the account, saying when it was started, which country,
11:44how many times you changed your name, all a lot of valuable information.
11:48And if such valuable information is continued to be provided on this channel, it will really
11:54help Indian agencies and the individuals in tracking down these accounts.
12:00I think I agree fully that in building up a fake narrative, or when somebody is trying
12:05to build up a fake narrative, time is of the essence.
12:08So if we want to detect it quickly, such things will help a lot.
12:11But we also need the internal laws and regulations, which will allow such cases to be tried quickly.
12:17So in this case, we have to look into issues like the Bharatiya Niaya Samhita and other
12:23aspects of tracking down fake news, of misinformation, of maligning somebody, of, you know, trying
12:31to put pressure through wrong means, political pressure or non-political pressure.
12:35All these are very important realities of today, but perhaps they are not reflected adequately
12:40in our Bharatiya Niaya Samhita, because these things are changing, they have to be updated
12:46very often, but I'm sure the government is looking into that and these changes will be
12:50made.
12:51But all in all, this is a very, very valuable addition and I hope it stays on.
12:56Yes, but as you pointed out rightly, Ambassador Sikri, that it will not prevent fake news.
13:02At best, it will lead to an early detection.
13:05So coming on this, Kanishk, this feature detects and reveals the geographical origin of user
13:13accounts.
13:14But when it is about the larger technological strengths and limitations of this feature,
13:20especially regarding VPN and proxy users, what does it do?
13:25See, we are living in the age of information warfare and narratives are being set globally.
13:33You have organized criminal groups, organizations.
13:38We've heard of Cambridge Analytica, which did election interference.
13:41Now it is interference, which is not done during elections only.
13:46It is propaganda narrative warfare, which is done throughout the year.
13:50So today you have cyber criminals, which use proxy VPNs to hide their identity.
13:58Mind you, if you see a X account, which appears to be coming from outside India, it's not necessarily
14:05it might be sitting outside India.
14:07It could be sitting right within India and it would be set by an organized cyber criminal
14:13group.
14:14And we have seen this happening.
14:16I investigated a case of Nupur Sharma, where I looked at hate propaganda, which was targeted
14:22on Nupur Sharma.
14:23And a lot of these accounts were originating from Pakistan when we did deep analysis.
14:29And every account was pointing towards India.
14:33But when we did deep analysis, we did further investigation.
14:37We were able to point out that this was a DGISPR propaganda, which was being put to create
14:43physical unrest in India.
14:45So right now what we are seeing is information warfare, narrative warfare, and it is impacting
14:50India in a big way.
14:52It can impact physical conflicts on ground as well.
14:56So then, Dr. Dugal, what legal steps could be taken to hold foreign actors accountable
15:01for meddling in Indian political conversations online?
15:05First and foremost, we need to realize that Indian sovereignty is supreme and no foreign power
15:11has got any kind of a right to interfere in the internal affairs of India.
15:16Indian sovereignty needs to be expanded to include cyber sovereignty.
15:20I recently coined a new concept known as artificial intelligence sovereignty, which includes the
15:25right of the sovereign nation to go ahead and have its sovereignty over all AI algorithms,
15:31which are available in its territorial boundaries, independent of whether they are physically
15:36located in the country or not.
15:38Apart from the sovereignty of the country to develop its own sovereign large language models,
15:43number one.
15:44Number two, I think we need to come up with, as a low-hanging fruit, immediate due diligence
15:49parameters under Section 87 of the Information Technology Act 2000, where the central government,
15:56without going to parliament, comes up with these rules and regulations specifically stipulating
16:00the specific due diligence parameters that must be mandatarily adopted by intermediaries
16:07in the matters pertaining to fake narratives or fake news.
16:11And if they fail to do so, then they are automatically stripped of their statutory exemption from legal liability.
16:17Number three, we will have to have a dedicated law on fake news because that's going to be
16:22the need of the hour.
16:23And number four, it's intrinsically also connected with the need of India to have a dedicated new
16:29national legislation on artificial intelligence.
16:32Let's remember that a big chunk of this so-called fake narrative is getting generated using artificial
16:38intelligence.
16:39Hence, if we are not going to regulate the misuse of AI for disseminating fake news or for criminal
16:45purposes, we are actually going to miss the bus.
16:47But finally, it will ultimately also be responsible to create adequate public awareness campaigns
16:53by the government, by AI stakeholders, by the cyber stakeholders, to the normal digital user.
17:01Please do not believe what you see.
17:04Please learn to be stingy in sharing your information.
17:08Please learn to be suspicious of any and every information that you see.
17:11Till such time, you've independently verified the authenticity or veracity of the same.
17:17We all have to work together.
17:18The law is only having one component.
17:20We need to enforce existing provisions of law with great vigor.
17:25But ultimately, we need to have new legal frameworks.
17:28And we'll have to imbibe a service of cyber resilience by sensitizing users not to rely upon such content.
17:37And in the context of elections, the Election Commission of India has a humongous role to play
17:41to ensure that this kind of fake information or fake news, whether done through deep twigs
17:46or otherwise, does not prejudicially impact the holding of free, fair and independent elections
17:51in the Indian context.
17:53Okay, certainly.
17:54Kanishk, 30 seconds to you.
17:56And then I'll give the last word to the senior editor for Sint, Ankit.
18:00Kanishk, we are looking at a challenge of a different nature.
18:03And the fact is that increasingly the entire conversation and the warfare is being played online.
18:10It is about public trust or activism which is happening online.
18:15Then uncovering of these foreign origin accounts, how does it really help a nation?
18:20It will be essentially communicating to the public, be aware.
18:25Besides the awareness campaign, what else can it do?
18:30It can create psychological warfare where people could really get hooked on to fake news,
18:38misinformation, which is propagated through a network of botnets, through a network of deepfakes.
18:45So people can get in a state of panic and it can influence their mindset, who they like, who they don't like.
18:53For example, the recent bomb blast which happened, the way it was broadcasted per se,
18:59it was seen as there is a new element of warfare which is being planned against India.
19:05And there is a specific community which was being suffered massively and doctors of specific community were being targeted
19:15while they were trying to talk about their freedom of expression or their fundamental rights.
19:22But actually, if you look at the threat actors who were doing all of this,
19:26were information warfare specialists sitting right across the border,
19:30trying to create a narrative on Twitter, X and also on Facebook.
19:35Okay, Ankit.
19:35So what you need to do is,
19:37Okay, let me bring in Ankit quickly now.
19:39I have just 30 seconds left on the show.
19:40Ankit, this is about X.
19:42But conversations are being generated also on Instagram, also on Facebook.
19:47What about these platforms?
19:50So X is important, Maria, because X might not have the largest footprints.
19:55Yes, because the nature of conversation is shifting.
19:59It has now moved to Instagram on YouTube.
20:02That's where the new warfare is.
20:04That's where the audience is being fought for.
20:07But X, Maria, is still the go-to platform for people like us,
20:12the journalists, the policy makers, the government officials.
20:15So if you see the ecosystem of information in the social media universe,
20:19it originally, in most cases, it starts from X,
20:23then travels through platforms like Instagram, through multimedia,
20:27and then through videos and podcasts.
20:29Origin in most cases is usually X.
20:33That is why X generally becomes the hub of these information campaigns.
20:37One suggestion that I would like to give, maybe it is practical,
20:41you know, before every election, there is model code of conduct.
20:44Everybody is kind of supposed to follow,
20:47even media, the newspapers, we are supposed to follow the guidelines.
20:51But why can't the Election Commission of India add a line,
20:55issuing an order, guideline, for the big tech involved in India?
20:59Why can't the social media, the big social media platforms,
21:03come under model code of conduct for today's...
21:06That certainly is a thought.
21:07That certainly is a thought, Ankit.
21:09Ankit, Ms. Nappin, Dr. Dugal, Kanish Gaur,
21:13and Ambassador Sikri, really appreciate your time.
21:15Of course, there will be several other aspects and several stories
21:18which will be brought out by the OSINT team of India today.
21:22That's all from me. I'll be seeing you tomorrow.
21:24Thanks so much for watching.
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