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Dec 10, 2020, 20 tweets

#IndianChronicles: Since yesterday, international media have covered our investigation, including BBC, Politico, Le Monde, EFE.
Here is what they found: 👇👇👇

In Brussels, @POLITICOEurope focused on the actors behind EU Chronicle – the same as behind EP Today last year: Madi Sharma.
They also reveal that MEPs @tobiszowski 🇵🇱 & @marctarabella 🇧🇪 claim to have been abused by #IndianChronicles.

politico.eu/article/india-…

On @EURACTIV, MEP 🇧🇬 @djambazki, who is cited as one of the authors of EU Chronicle content, declared that he never "submitted any text" and is "looking into legal actions to resolve this issue”.

euractiv.com/section/digita…

But other MEPs participated extremely regularly in #IndianChronicles’ activities. In two articles, @oko_press exposes the continuous participation in this operation of former European Parliament Vice-President Ryszard Czarnecki 🇵🇱.

oko.press/proindyjska-si…
oko.press/europosel-czar…

On MEPs not declaring their activities, @BBC interviewed MEP @daniel_freund who says: “there is little incentive to respect the rules when the worst that can happen is to file a declaration after you have been caught”.

bbc.com/news/world-asi…

.@BBC also points out the resilience of #IndianChronicles despite our preliminary investigation last year.

Here is their overview of the whole operation.
bbc.com/news/world-asi…

At the United Nations, in Geneva, @LeTemps uncovered how #IndianChronicles paid students in cash to speak on behalf of fake NGOs at the @UN_HRC.

Former interns reveal they earned up to 200 Swiss francs/day (186€). #HumanRightsDay

letemps.ch/monde/une-vast…

But who recruited these students and how?

@NicolasQuenel and @antoinehasday will tell you. The journalists from @lesjours extensively covered our investigation with 2 articles published and 2 more to come.

lesjours.fr/obsessions/ind…

In France, one particular focus of @lemonde has been on some techniques (identity theft, fake media…) used by #IndianChronicles to produce pro-Indian content.

lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/…

Finally, the article is being translated into a number of languages.

For Spanish speakers, here is an overview of our investigation in Spanish for @Efe by @javieralbisu

es.noticias.yahoo.com/destapan-colos…

For German speakers, see EurActiv’s translation here:

euractiv.de/section/eu-aus…

Other media covered our #IndianChronicles findings.

Contacted by @AJEnglish, Peter Stano (@ExtSpoxEU) – lead spokesperson for EU external affairs - said "the expose will be raised during the EU-India Strategic Partnership dialogue”.

aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/1…

Talking to @Reuters about our report, “UNHRC spokesman Rolando Gomez said the organisation would look into these specific allegations, and that it was aware a number of accredited groups were pursuing their own political agenda or those of governments.”
reuters.com/article/us-pak…

In the same article on #IndianChronicles, @Reuters also said it “was ‘reviewing these allegations’ in its capacity as a minority shareholder in ANI, but added that it has ‘no involvement’ in ANI’s editorial operations.”

@ANI reproduced the statement of an organisation saying our #IndianChronicles report was "biased, fictional and fabricated" without substantiating these claims.
aninews.in/news/world/asi…

At 6PM CET today, @Lesjoursfr will provide a comprehensive report about #IndianChronicles' proxy recruiter in Geneva, who paid students in cash to speak at the UNHRC for resurrected NGOs. (in French)
lesjours.fr/tags/indian-ch…

The French media @libe covered our report with two articles, including one about the role of @ANI in the amplification of content from #IndianChronicles. (in French)
liberation.fr/planete/2020/1…

.@AP covered the geopolitical fallouts of our #IndianChronicles report, with Pakistan and India exchanging mutual accusations of spreading disinformation.
apnews.com/article/europe…

Finally, a timely op-ed published @dawn_com reminds us that too much politicisation of the fight against disinformation can become a danger. In every country, these issues should be tackled with a responsible approach involving civil society.
dawn.com/news/1595669/m…

Update: @Lesjoursfr will publish tomorrow.⬇️

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