Shadowy Indian election ‘consultants’ add US midterms to global footprint
Summary
An Al Jazeera report describes Indian political consultants and social media workers running covert online campaigns for politicians in several countries. Researchers identified at least 28 X accounts sharing videos that supported Haley Stevens in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary; the accounts drew more than seven million views, and Stevens lost to Abdul El-Sayed.Key Facts
- Rajan Kumar said he created social media content for Kenya’s William Ruto campaign in 2022 for $7 a day.
- Kumar said shadow accounts shared content that was not posted by Ruto’s official campaign, including edited clips and false claims.
- Ruto won Kenya’s 2022 election and became the country’s fifth president.
- The article says researchers found Indian social media accounts posting videos in support of US political campaigns.
- The New York Times first reported posts supporting Haley Stevens before Michigan’s August 4 Senate primary.
- Stevens lost the Democratic primary to Abdul El-Sayed, the party’s candidate for the midterm election.
- Antibot4Navalny told Al Jazeera that it found at least 28 X accounts sharing videos supporting Stevens; the accounts received more than seven million views.
- Political consultants interviewed by Al Jazeera said shadow campaigns operate without clear limits or safeguards.
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