Turkey, Qatar media organisations part of disinformation campaign against India: Report

NEW DELHI, (ANI): Only Pakistan and the handlers sitting outside Pakistan are considered guilty of the media war against India. The reality, however, is that many media organizations of Turkey and Qatar have also become partners in the campaign, writes Dilshad Noor in a report for Indian non-profit fact-checking website, Digital Forensics, Research and Analytics Centre (DFRAC).

According to Noor, a research fellow at DFRAC, India needs to understand the alliance between journalists and media organizations settled in Turkey and Qatar, as they provoke both the countries to oppose India. “It is unfortunate that such widespread disinformation is being spread about India in the Gulf region,” Noor wrote.

Pro-Pakistan or pro-China groups are often responsible for spreading disinformation targeting India in the Gulf region as these groups seek to undermine India’s relations with the Gulf countries. Disinformation often includes false claims about India’s human rights record, its treatment of minorities, and its foreign policy. Disinformation refers to spreading false or misleading information to influence public opinion or policy regarding India. This type of disinformation can take many forms, such as fake news, conspiracy theories, or edited photos and videos, Noor said.

The Muslim Brotherhood is banned or suppressed in many countries, including Egypt, where it was designated as a terrorist group in 2013, while many other countries view it as a radicalized and extremist organization. Turkey today is working as the international headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood and is supported by Emir Tamim of Qatar.

The Muslim Brotherhood is a political and social movement founded by Hassan al-Banna in Egypt in 1928. Its stated goal is to promote traditional Islamic values and principles, and it has had a significant impact on the political and social development of many Muslim-majority countries, writes Noor for the DFRAC report.

According to news that came out in February 2021, Turkey along with Pakistan had formed a media front against India. The claim was made by an organization called Mediterranean-Asian Investigative Journalists. The news was reprinted by the Research Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS). It was reported in the news that TRT World and Anadolu Media have associated several Pakistani and Indian Kashmiri journalists with this campaign.

Turkey’s intelligence agency MIT started working closely with Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI’s Pakistan Army’s media wing, ISPR i.e., Inter Service Public Relations, the DFRAC report said. TRT World has been criticized for being biased in its coverage of India and for spreading misinformation about the country.

In some cases, the channel has been accused of spreading misinformation about India’s human rights record and the situation of minorities, particularly Muslims, in India. The channel has been criticized for promoting a pro-Pakistan view regarding the dispute over the territory of Kashmir. TRT World shows news in many languages including Turkish, English, and Arabic, the DFRAC reported.

TRT World is a 24-hour English-language international news channel owned and operated by the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT). (ANI)