Financial Times (FT) quoting anonymous sources reported that US thwarted an attack by India on Khalistani loudmouth Gurpatwant Singh Pannun who as per Indian mediaâs anonymous sources is a US Asset
But there's more to mix of Pannun/ #Khalistan-Role of UK establishment & BBC.
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But there's more to mix of Pannun/ #Khalistan-Role of UK establishment & BBC.
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Incidentally, the FT story about âSaving Pannun Ryanâ comes AFTER Canadian claim regarding Nijjar but the incident happened BEFORE that, or so it claimed. The article didnât clarify why the âsourcesâ leaked it NOW.
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One such savior was BBC: about two years ago BBC did a story on a report by a UK think tank - Centre for Information Resilience (CIR). The report claimed that large-scale fake Indian handles were targeting Sikhs and farmers!
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What BBC did not tell was CIR is a UK establishment project!
The report was a classic psy-op through which BBC/ CIR tried projecting Pannun as an âactivistâ and projecting Khalistan as an essential political demand of the Sikhs!
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The report was a classic psy-op through which BBC/ CIR tried projecting Pannun as an âactivistâ and projecting Khalistan as an essential political demand of the Sikhs!
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We will return to CIR and the psy-op in a while, but first, the Report.
The CIR report claimed to expose a âlarge-scaleâ propaganda campaign targeting farmersâ protests. But did it? Their claims and facts:
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The CIR report claimed to expose a âlarge-scaleâ propaganda campaign targeting farmersâ protests. But did it? Their claims and facts:
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In a nutshell: CIR report âunearthedâ a total of 33 anonymous/fake Twitter IDs (likely Indian) who ran a coordinated campaign targeting SFJ/ Pannun. The CIR & BBC spun it as anti-farmer/ anti-Sikh!
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Justifying a report exposing merely 33 Twitter/ X handles, the report claimed that though small, they had HUGE reach & influence:
Fact: throughout the Report, ONE tweet was shown as evidence of HUGE reach â a post ironically calling for Khalistan in the UK & Canada.
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Fact: throughout the Report, ONE tweet was shown as evidence of HUGE reach â a post ironically calling for Khalistan in the UK & Canada.
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The CIR report made another claim that even if small in number, the ânarrativeâ was hyped through the media!
Fact: One media quoted a tweet on Sikh Festival Hola Mohalla, and two had quoted reports about pro-India gatherings abroad. Both factually correct.
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Fact: One media quoted a tweet on Sikh Festival Hola Mohalla, and two had quoted reports about pro-India gatherings abroad. Both factually correct.
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When these handles did not use any fake news, and mostly criticized/ mocked loudmouth Pannun, accused him as Pak agent, and above all had no real impact whatsoever, why would CIR/ BBC take so much pain to âexposeâ them?
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But we get it.
Even ONE fake account is fake and must be exposed.
What if they were only 33 handles, and what if they didnât have any impact? And what if they targeted Pannun? An orchestrated fake campaign deserves to be exposed.
We couldnât agree more.
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Even ONE fake account is fake and must be exposed.
What if they were only 33 handles, and what if they didnât have any impact? And what if they targeted Pannun? An orchestrated fake campaign deserves to be exposed.
We couldnât agree more.
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What is puzzling though is at the exact same time when CIR was âunearthingâ this propaganda, there were multiple orchestrated campaigns being run AGAINST India, which were targeting the farmers' protest at a truly âlarge-scaleâ!
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Case Study 1:#Khalsa4Khalistan
Most online Khalistani campaigns against India are largely supported by Pakâs ISPR. In Apr'20 during farmersâ protest Pak handles ran #Khalsa4Khalistan to propagate SFJ's #KhalistanReferendum.It was a classic copy-paste coordinated campaign
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Most online Khalistani campaigns against India are largely supported by Pakâs ISPR. In Apr'20 during farmersâ protest Pak handles ran #Khalsa4Khalistan to propagate SFJ's #KhalistanReferendum.It was a classic copy-paste coordinated campaign
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How big was this disinfo network?
Well, much bigger than 33 X handles! Atleast 186 handles ran this hashtag, and it was so fake, most accounts were created on Apr 13, 2020, alone! And they were tweeting in a coordinated manner. It was not difficult to identify at all.
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Well, much bigger than 33 X handles! Atleast 186 handles ran this hashtag, and it was so fake, most accounts were created on Apr 13, 2020, alone! And they were tweeting in a coordinated manner. It was not difficult to identify at all.
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That these âsock puppetâ handles were being run from Pakistan was evident through their behavior - from the bios & follower-following network to tweeting on topics pertaining to Pakistan. Again, not difficult to spot at all.
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Case Study 2: Impersonation
Pakistani 5th Gen warriors have mastered impersonation to run propaganda, targeting India. For e.g.: an account Voice of Youth Pakistan(@Voice_YP) which masquerades as an Indian Sikh created 10x more impact than all of CIRâs handles combined!
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Pakistani 5th Gen warriors have mastered impersonation to run propaganda, targeting India. For e.g.: an account Voice of Youth Pakistan(@Voice_YP) which masquerades as an Indian Sikh created 10x more impact than all of CIRâs handles combined!
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How HUGE was this fake campaign?
It was lapped up by the then PM Imran Khanâs party handles, Pak news channels & even by Govt of Pakistan! Few posts alone had 9k RT & 31k likes within hours. The Pak media circulation was well-planned.
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It was lapped up by the then PM Imran Khanâs party handles, Pak news channels & even by Govt of Pakistan! Few posts alone had 9k RT & 31k likes within hours. The Pak media circulation was well-planned.
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These are but a few of the campaigns we dug after the BBC/ CIR report, and after the farmersâ protest was called off. There were scores of such campaigns during the peak of the protest.
All super easy to spot, but none got the attention of mavericks of CIR.
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All super easy to spot, but none got the attention of mavericks of CIR.
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Who and what is CIR?
The CIR was founded in June 2020 by two British nationals- Adam Rutland & Ross Burley (in pic left to right). Both these gentlemen were extensively linked to the UK Govt before they co-founded CIR.
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The CIR was founded in June 2020 by two British nationals- Adam Rutland & Ross Burley (in pic left to right). Both these gentlemen were extensively linked to the UK Govt before they co-founded CIR.
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CIRâs co-founder & Exec Dir Adam Rutland worked with the British Foreign Ministry - FCO (2004-18). In 2013, he was spokesperson for British Embassy in Jakarta. But his real claim to fame is his link with âThe Integrity Initiative (II)ââ considered a UK deep state project.
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The âIntegrity Initiativeâ was the baby of âInstitute for Statecraftâ (the name suggests), co-founded by Christopher Nigel Donnelly known as a UK âdeep politicianâ who was a Special Advisor to 4 NATO Secretaries-General for 13 years, as well as to UK PM Margaret Thatcher.
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Incidentally, while CIR was registered in 2020, Rutland âclaimedâ to have found it in 2018 itself, which happened to be just a few months before his name appeared in Integrity Initiative leaks in 2018.
Convenient.
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Convenient.
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Rutland also incorporated a Consulting firm in Jun 2018 where Rachel Claire Winny joined as director in 2021. While CIR does not mention Winny, her LinkedIn profile does. Incidentally, she also has work experience at the UKâs FCO.
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CIR co-founder Ross Burley was foreign policy advisor to David Lidington at House of Commons (Jul 2007- May 10), a civilian spokesman for British reconstruction team in Helmand, Afghanistan in 2008, and worked as FCDO in Washington DC and Tel Aviv (two years each).
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And the Report author Benjamin Strick was formerly employed by BBC & Bellingcat. Strick also worked at the Australian Army (2013-16) & EUArms Project (Nov 2018-Dec 2020). It is worth noting that EUArms Project was also associated with the UK Govt.
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A recent addition to CIR: former head of USâ Ministry of Truth #NinaJankowicz, as VP at US office.
(believe it or not, US free speech warrior #WaPo agonized when this âgovt fact-checkâ was shuttered!!)
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(believe it or not, US free speech warrior #WaPo agonized when this âgovt fact-checkâ was shuttered!!)
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CIR receives funds from at least three countries of Five Eyes- UK, US & Australia. While BBC/ CIR would obviously contest the Deep State links (there is a whole book on BBC being NYT/ WaPo of the UK), but what it does NOT tell is more interesting.
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So, CIR is funded by the UK govt, run by ex-govt, & its report is publicized by UK Govt-funded media. And while we donât know CIRâs actual relation with the UK establishment, it's worth noting that neither BBC nor CIR Report put any disclaimer about its Govt relations!
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But the same org (CIR) gets its employee (Nina Jankowicz) to register as a Foreign Agent with the US govt. A UK non-profit working on exposing disinformation registers itself as a Foreign Agent. But in India, they didnât even put out basic disclaimers â not BBC nor CIR.
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They knew they could get away with impunity, and they did.
Not only that, the Report was duly hyped by a litany of Indian ânews mediaâ, none of which bothered to check the facts. They didnât even read the original CIR report â only rehashed BBC propaganda.
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Not only that, the Report was duly hyped by a litany of Indian ânews mediaâ, none of which bothered to check the facts. They didnât even read the original CIR report â only rehashed BBC propaganda.
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Propaganda isn't new for BBC. Earlier it published a âsurveyâ to claim that nationalism is driving fake news in Indiaâsurvey based on ~20 Indians out of 1.4 bn!
BBC apologizes/corrects/clarifies-except in India, where the former colonial masters still rule colonized minds
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BBC apologizes/corrects/clarifies-except in India, where the former colonial masters still rule colonized minds
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But letâs believe the Sahibs: a UK government-funded âindependentâ think tank report is published by a UK government-funded âindependentâ media. But why would they spin an anti-Pannun sock puppet campaign as anti-farmer and anti-Sikh?
Why indeed?
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Why indeed?
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As noted, itâs a classic psy-op which serves many purposes:
a. Paints Pannun as âactivistâ
b. Paints India as hub of disinformation
c. Inflames Sikh sentiment.
Why again?
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a. Paints Pannun as âactivistâ
b. Paints India as hub of disinformation
c. Inflames Sikh sentiment.
Why again?
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We donât know, but here are some facts:
a. Western media hypes the Khalistan issue and even plays down violent threats.
b. All key Khalistanis live and thrive in the US, UK, Canada
c. Indian missions get attacked by Khalistanis only in the US, UK, & Canada
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a. Western media hypes the Khalistan issue and even plays down violent threats.
b. All key Khalistanis live and thrive in the US, UK, Canada
c. Indian missions get attacked by Khalistanis only in the US, UK, & Canada
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Disclaimer: we do not justify or even explain the 33-handles âdisinformation campaignâ. We have exposed similar disinformation regarding #farmersprotest (100x bigger than CIRâs magnum opus) and exposed even an anti-Pak/ anti-China propaganda being run from Indian soil.
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Question is:
Why would a UK-funded project pick an insignificant disinformation, overlooking much larger similar networks, and spinning it in a way to inflame farmers/ Sikhsâ sentiment. And how sheepishly Indian media obliged!
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Why would a UK-funded project pick an insignificant disinformation, overlooking much larger similar networks, and spinning it in a way to inflame farmers/ Sikhsâ sentiment. And how sheepishly Indian media obliged!
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Please do read the whole story to understand the nuances of psy-ops deployed by major powers. The report we prepared two years ago but it is still relevant.
Full Report:
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thedisinfolab.org
Full Report:
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thedisinfolab.org
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