Major tech companies such as Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp and Twitter were under immense pressure from the US State Department to curb pro-Modi content during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections which the BJP-led NDA eventually won handsomely.
In the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, WhatsApp had limited the message forwarding option and this was a deliberate step to curb the BJP’s ability to reach out to its voters in large numbers. This was done intentionally in a bid to meddle with the elections, and it had the hand of several US agencies including USAID, new revelations have shown.
Former US State Department official Mike Benz said that the United States had actively interfered in the domestic politics of several nations including India and Bangladesh. While stating that he has proof of USAID assistance in this campaign, Benz also said that the US used a combination of media influence, funding of opposition movements and media censorship to interfere in the elections.
Benz spelt out how the US backed agencies had used democracy promotion as a cover to influence elections. These agencies were also tasked with destabilising governments and bring in new regimes so that they are aligned to the strategic interests of Bangladesh.
In the run up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in India, elements within the US foreign policy establishments including USAID, think-tanks and major technology firms manipulated political discourses.
These groups had worked togerther to shape the election narrative by promoting the idea that Modi’s political success was largely a result of misinformation. This led to the creation of a bias which led to a wider censorship.
In a bid to justify the intervention in India’s digital space, the US backed entities had framed supporters of Modi as spreading fake news online. Multiple organisations including those linked to USAID had worked with air international media and digital forensics groups to create report that described India as having a serious misinformation crisis. This eventually became a pretext to suppress pro-Modi narratives on social media platforms. Further major tech companies were pressurised to curb pro-Modi content, Benz said.
WhatsApp in particular was targeted the most as the platform is widely used for political messaging in India. The decision taken by WhatsApp in January 2019 to limit message forwarding in India was a deliberate move to curb the BJP’s ability to reach voters. The BJP’s supporters used to heavily rely on this platform for mobilisation and this message forwarding limit had put severe curbs on them.
Suppressing nationalist movements
According to Benz, the USAID and US linked think-tanks played an active role in funding counter-misinformation programmes that were designed to suppress nationalist movements like the BJP.
He further said that organisations such as the Atlantic Council and Global Engagement Center had pushed for greater content moderation on the social media justifying it as a mechanism to prevent misinformation. The real intention was to focus on reducing the visibility of pro-Modi messaging.
There were factions within the State Department that operated independently of the Trump administration. Trump shared strong ties with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and despite this entrenched bureaucrats within the State Department overseeing cyber policies were actively involved in coordinating censorship with Big Tech.
Officials in the Global Engagement Centre and other US agencies had advised social media companies on content moderation strategies which were aimed at limiting nationalist political movements worldwide.
In a bid to further influence the political discourse, several organisations received USAID funding. The organisations which received funding were told to counter the BJP’s digital outreach programme ahead of the 2019 elections.
Attempts in Bangladesh
Bangladesh’s former prime minister Sheikh Hasina had recently said that there was an attempt made by the US to influence the political landscape of her country.
According to leaked documents, US funded organisations such as the National Endowment for Democracy and its affiliates had worked on pans to destabilise Bangladesh. These strategies included recruiting activists, mobilising minority groups and using cultural and ethnic tensions to create a division within the society.
Further there are allegations that the US taxpayer money was used to fund Bangladeshi rap music that was designed in a way that it promoted anti-government sentiment. These rap songs were targeted at students and youth activists to encourage mass protests.
All these allegations seem to add as one did get to witness a political coup in Bangladesh which eventually led to the ouster of Hasina. More importantly the deep-state managed to install its puppet Muhammad Yunus at the helm.
While the strategy did work for the US agencies such as USAID in Bangladesh, it failed when it came to influencing the Lok Sabha 2019 elections.
