Shadowy Indian election ‘consultants’ add US midterms to global footprint
India's election consultants are exporting covert campaign tactics to manipulate elections worldwide, including the US.
New Delhi, India — In an unfurnished flat in a nondescript Ahmedabad neighbourhood in western India, a 22-year-old digital content creator worked through the nights, designing posters and editing videos for a presidential campaign thousands of kilometres away — William Ruto’s 2022 bid for the presidency in Kenya.
Rajan Kumar’s content was not shared by Ruto’s official campaign. Instead, the 50 social media posts he created for $7 a day were shared on shadow social media accounts that conceal their identity to make coordinated messaging appear independent while backing Ruto’s campaign.
For content, Kumar said he would trim opposing leaders’ speeches or interviews to twist their statements, or create posters with false claims amplifying Ruto’s prospects and popularity ahead of the election.
Rules set by Meta, Facebook’s parent firm, disallow users from any “attempt to or successfully sell, buy, or exchange” accounts, or from operating under false or stolen identities. In general, both Meta and Google’s policies require political advertisers to verify their identities and disclose who paid for election advertisements, though specific rules vary from country to country.