In its third and latest investigation into Indian influence networks, the European Union DisinfoLab has claimed that India’s leading news agency ANI has played a “key role” in pushing narratives based on “fabricated sources”.
In 2019, the Brussels-based non-profit group had published a study that claimed to have uncovered an Indian influence network covering “265 fake local news sites in more than 65 countries”. And in 2020, it claimed to have unearthed a 15-year influence operation – “targeting international institutions and serving Indian interests” – through resurrecting “dead media, dead think tanks and NGOs” – and in some cases, “dead people”.
