Shadowy Indian election ‘consultants’ add US midterms to global footprint
Indian social media bots and accounts have been found shadow-posting videos backing specific campaigns in the US midterm elections, extending a pattern of election manipulation that has previously targeted countries in Africa and South America.
In an unfurnished flat in Ahmedabad, India, a 22-year-old digital content creator worked through nights designing posters and editing videos for William Ruto's 2022 presidential campaign in Kenya. His content wasn't shared by Ruto's official campaign but appeared on shadow social media accounts that concealed their identity to make coordinated messaging appear independent. Kumar admitted to twisting opposing leaders' speeches or creating posters with false claims to amplify Ruto's prospects.
If there's a woman politician, we simply link her to someone to damage her reputation. It's one of the easiest ways to discredit.
Four years later, as the United States heads into its midterm elections, researchers have found that Indian social media bots and accounts have been shadow-posting videos backing specific campaigns. The New York Times first reported such posts supporting US Democratic politician Haley Stevens ahead of the August 4 Senate primary in Michigan, which she lost to Abdul El-Sayed.
Global Election Manipulation
The US is only the latest theatre of electoral war where politicians are banking on Indian social media mercenaries-for-hire. These consultants have fought shadow election campaigns in several countries in South America and Africa. Nearly a dozen political consultants in India told Al Jazeera there are no limits, guardrails, or red lines in such shadow campaigns.
Political consultancies advise politicians on how to win public support and elections. With the boom in social media, dirty tricks have spread to online platforms to manipulate voters through targeted advertising campaigns on Meta and Google platforms. Previous reports found that Russia used similar tactics to influence voters in the US.
An Al Jazeera investigation in the run-up to India's 2024 national election revealed a sprawling network of shadowy pages on Meta and Google products like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube on sale — skirting the platforms' policies against such misuse of targeted advertisements.
Loopholes and Risks
Antibot4Navalny, a group of disinformation researchers, found at least 28 accounts on X (formerly Twitter) sharing videos supporting Stevens's campaign in Michigan, garnering more than seven million views. At least 15 of these accounts were posting from India. Researchers at Clemson University's Media Forensic Hub have also identified similar tactics being used by for-hire Indian accounts.
Rules set by Meta disallow users from attempting to sell, buy, or exchange accounts or operating under false identities. Both Meta and Google require political advertisers to verify their identities and disclose who paid for election advertisements. However, Indian consultants told Al Jazeera these community standards are routinely violated.
These platforms have long pages of such rules, but when you read between the lines, there are several loopholes one can exploit.
Covert Operations
Kumar said he was paid about $7 a day under a monthly contract and was asked to deliver up to 100 creatives on some days, coordinated via groups on Telegram. He never worked directly with any of Ruto's representatives and was never informed of the identities of all individuals involved in the supply chain.
The risks are real. Two Indian political consultants, Zulfiqar Ahmad Khan and Mohamed Zaid Sami Kidwai, who were working for Ruto's campaign, went missing in Nairobi in July 2022 and were found dead in October, allegedly abducted by an elite police unit in Kenya. After winning, Ruto disbanded that unit.
The shadowy nature extends to payments, with several consultancies relying on hawala networks — an informal, trust-based money-transfer system that allows people to send funds across borders through brokers, bypassing conventional banking channels. At least three consultants identified export-focused businesses in Old Delhi's Chandni Chowk market as one such hub.
Global Marketplace
Giri told Al Jazeera that in the last couple of years, India has turned into "a big wholesale market to run these shadow political campaigns". He compared it to buying toys from China: "you can manipulate elections anywhere in the world at the cheapest cost in India."
Author Sharma explained that this is an extension of India's global outsourcing industry.
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