Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Pro-Indian ‘fake’ websites aimed at influencing decision-making in Europe

bbc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 64 posts

Re: Pro-Indian ‘fake’ websites aimed at influencing decision-making in Europe

#21

Post by wilsonrocks »

jotm wrote: post #15
ailideex wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Let's be honest most major states are doing this Maybe if you exclude most western states/countries - not sure I have noticed a pattern of US media talking it up - quite the contrary - and I have not really gotten the impression that press of UK, Australia, France or Germany is in the business of putting positive spins on domestic matters either.

Oh the UK media definitely does. Example: Removing the working time limit? Let's ignore that it's going to lead to more overtime even for those who don't want it, it will increase household revenue! Good news everyone! https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5156079/brits-post-brexit-over... It's currently opt out if you want to work more than 48hrs/week, but scrapping that law will make it even better heh

The Sun is a terrible newspaper imo

Re: Pro-Indian ‘fake’ websites aimed at influencing decision-making in Europe

#23

Post by kobiguru »

kranner wrote: post #19
eklavya wrote: post #7

Maybe they are trying to counter the default anti Indian narrative of most western media outlets which sometimes takes an ugly embarrassing form https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-29502062

What "default anti Indian narrative"? Also, the cartoon you've linked to doesn't seem anti-Indian at all. I get that people complained, but it's a cartoon: quite a gentle one at that.

here this should help you get a pretty good picture of BBC's Anti-India bias. From "Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television" published in 2008.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0143968080231032...

Re: Pro-Indian ‘fake’ websites aimed at influencing decision-making in Europe

#24

Post by roenxi »

The BBC World Service started broadcasts in Arabic in 1938. That is basically the dawn of modern international propaganda. The media has likely been a hotbed of lies for much longer but our main record of the situation is the media so the evidence is scanty.

With that background, the story here is that the network has been identified and catalogued. Someone somewhere in India is grossly negligent and/or stupid if there isn't an organised group pushing pro-India stories and the general existence of such a thing isn't newsworthy.

Re: Pro-Indian ‘fake’ websites aimed at influencing decision-making in Europe

#25

Post by kobiguru »

shaki-dora wrote: post #8
amriksohata wrote: post #2

Though they are pro India, the word fake sounds like they are fake news, when in fact they are just spinning existing news sites with an Indian positivity spin. Let's be honest most major states are doing this

Do you have any examples from, say, an EU country supporting your accusations?

Here you go..

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0143968080231032...

Re: Pro-Indian ‘fake’ websites aimed at influencing decision-making in Europe

#26

Post by wsxcde »

ailideex wrote: post #4
amriksohata wrote: post #2

Though they are pro India, the word fake sounds like they are fake news, when in fact they are just spinning existing news sites with an Indian positivity spin. Let's be honest most major states are doing this

> Let's be honest most major states are doing this Maybe if you exclude most western states/countries - not sure I have noticed a pattern of US media talking it up - quite the contrary - and I have not really gotten the impression that press of UK, Australia, France or Germany is in the business of putting positive spins on domestic matters either.

> not sure I have noticed a pattern of US media talking it up

Don't you remember when the NYT "credulously" put out stories from Dick Cheney about supposed WMDs in Iraq, which btw were sourced as coming from a "senior administration official" and then Cheney and his cronies then used these reports to actually start a war in Iraq that has resulted in half a million deaths and millions of global refugees? Very little any other country has done could possibly compare with this.

Re: Pro-Indian ‘fake’ websites aimed at influencing decision-making in Europe

#27

Post by kranner »

kobiguru wrote: post #23
kranner wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What "default anti Indian narrative"? Also, the cartoon you've linked to doesn't seem anti-Indian at all. I get that people complained, but it's a cartoon: quite a gentle one at that.

here this should help you get a pretty good picture of BBC's Anti-India bias. From "Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television" published in 2008. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0143968080231032...

Paywall. The first page, which is the only page I can access, says this is regarding an event dated 29 August 1970.

First, that's fifty years ago so do you have something newer?

Second, this seems to be about the 1975-1977 period when Indira Gandhi expelled all foreign journalists and jailed more than 250 Indian journalists [1] and politicians from the opposition and suspended elections by declaring an Emergency. The BBC was expelled in 1970 as well for broadcasting Louis Malle's documentary Phantom India [2] which showed Indian slums and depicting India in a bad light internationally. They were later invited back in 1972.

Since the same allegations are levelled today at movies like Slumdog Millionaire, all this proves is that a) we still have slums in India, and b) we are still sensitive to criticism.

[1] https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/when-media-was-muzzled... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_India

Re: Pro-Indian ‘fake’ websites aimed at influencing decision-making in Europe

#28

Post by kranner »

roenxi wrote: post #24

The BBC World Service started broadcasts in Arabic in 1938. That is basically the dawn of modern international propaganda. The media has likely been a hotbed of lies for much longer but our main record of the situation is the media so the evidence is scanty. With that background, the story here is that the network has been identified and catalogued. Someone somewhere in India is grossly negligent and/or stupid if the…

> The BBC World Service started broadcasts in Arabic in 1938. That is basically the dawn of modern international propaganda.

In Mein Kampf (1925), Hitler was already complaining about British propaganda having lost Germany WW1, whether or not it was true. Of course, Hitler should be the last person to get away with calling propaganda unfair.

Re: Pro-Indian ‘fake’ websites aimed at influencing decision-making in Europe

#29

Post by shaki-dora »

kobiguru wrote: post #25
shaki-dora wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any examples from, say, an EU country supporting your accusations?

Here you go.. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0143968080231032...

I hate to break it to you, but the BBC being British and public hasn't exactly been a secret.

Re: Pro-Indian ‘fake’ websites aimed at influencing decision-making in Europe

#30

Post by gumby »

pcx wrote: post #22

One big success of our current BJP-controlled govt in India is their ability to influence and control narrative on specific topics through targeted disinformation. This is not just for internal issues but also for external ones.

FWIW this article says that the particular case under discussion seems to be a private effort.

Not that this invalidates your larger point.

Post reply on HN