Washington, Nov 26: A new investigation has uncovered a network of foreign-operated accounts on social media platform X that have been posing as Indian users to spread political propaganda and divisive narratives across India. Several of these accounts have reportedly been traced to Pakistan and multiple countries in West Asia.
According to a report in The Free Press Journal, which cites findings by India Today’s Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) team, many of the suspicious accounts used profile photos of saree-clad women and carried bios with patriotic slogans such as “Jai Hind.” Despite claiming to be from Uttar Pradesh or Mumbai, the accounts were found to be operating from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and other West Asian nations.
The report highlighted one such account, @chaturvediswat, which had posted more than 2,000 messages attacking the Indian government on issues ranging from the Red Fort blast to the Bihar elections. The recently introduced “About This Account” feature on X revealed that this handle was actually based in Pakistan.
Similarly, several other accounts traced to West Asia and Saudi Arabia were found to be participating in heated debates on Indian political and religious matters. Investigators noted that these accounts used flawless Hindi, making it harder for ordinary users to detect that they were foreign-operated. Many such handles, the OSINT team found, were actively promoting propaganda and attempting to influence public discourse within India.
Amit Malviya, who heads the BJP’s National Information and Technology Department, also flagged what he described as a coordinated global attempt to distort India’s internal narrative.
He stated that after X introduced location transparency, a clear pattern emerged: “A large number of pro-Congress, anti-Hindu, and divisive caste-based handles are not operating from India. Many are based in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and other regions. Most have changed usernames repeatedly to hide their identity. This shows a coordinated global operation to influence India’s social discourse and deepen internal divisions.”
Malviya asserted that with these revelations, “the conspiracy against India now stands exposed.”
