Originally published as a three-part series, this version compiles the full investigation. On November 18, the website Tech Bullion ran a strange piece. Sandwiched between CEO profiles, marketing how-tos and product reviews, the "exclusive investigation…
Originally published as a three-part series, this version compiles the full investigation.
On November 18, the website Tech Bullion ran a strange piece. Sandwiched between CEO profiles, marketing how-tos and product reviews, the "exclusive investigation" claimed that India was conspiring with the Kachin Independence Army in northern Myanmar to develop a corridor for transporting rare earths. It also alleged that India was supporting the KIA militarily to "systematically erode Myanmar's sovereignty and resources."
An investigation conducted by Alt News in collaboration with freelance journalists Emily Fishbein and Jauman Naw found that the story's publication and amplification were part of a coordinated influence operation. This investigation also identified evidence of the operation extending beyond Myanmar and India.
Initially published on five content-amplification websites, the story was then published on at least four websites and news outlets focusing on Myanmar and northeast India. It was further amplified through four rounds of coordinated social media posts on X and one round on Facebook, overwhelmingly by accounts that appear to have originated in Pakistan.
Margot Fulde-Hardy, an investigator at the American social network intelligence platform Graphika, conducted research which contributed to these findings. Further research conducted by Fulde-Hardy also found that the online infrastructure used to distribute the KIA-India rare earth conspiracy story partially overlaps with that used by pro-China networks involved in an influence operation known as Spamouflage.
Whether Spamouflage, or any government, was involved in the KIA-India rare earth conspiracy story's publication could not be confirmed, but it is nonetheless significant in three key ways. First, it helps to identify the shared use of influence operation infrastructure by Spamouflage networks and social media accounts originating in Pakistan, which has not previously been reported. "The recruitment of Pakistani accounts to disseminate Spamouflage-linked content suggests a departure from Spamouflage's current tactics that we tracked at Graphika," said Fulde-Hardy.
Second, the story touches on transnational geopolitical flashpoints. Myanmar is the world's largest source of certain rare earth elements, with most mining sites concentrated in territory controlled by the KIA. China currently processes all rare earth mined in Myanmar; although India does not yet possess the capacity to compete with China in this regard, Reuters reported last year that India and the KIA had engaged in preliminary conversations about a potential rare earths cooperation. If carried out, such a cooperation would undercut China's dominance over the industry.
Both China and Pakistan are longtime rivals of India. India and China have openly backed the Myanmar military junta since its 2021 coup, while competing for influence in the country. The three hashtags used by Pakistani accounts when sharing the KIA-India conspiracy article on social media — #StopIndiaHegemony, #DefendMyanmarSovereignty, and #StopRareEarthExploitation — reflect this complexity.
According to Angshuman Choudhury, a PhD candidate at the National University of Singapore and King's College London who specialises in India-Myanmar relations and border politics, the KIA-India conspiracy story appears to represent a new convergence of particular interests in the disinformation space.
"Every piece of disinfo is aimed at achieving something at the behest of someone. In this case too, it prima facie sought to destabilise India's covert outreach to the KIA on the rare earth issue," he said. "That the piece came out and was fairly widely circulated shows the high stakes nature of this outreach and its potential to reshape some part of the regional geopolitical landscape."
The story's subject matter also reflects a rising trend in the global disinformation space. A recent study published in The Extractive Industries and Society, an academic journal, identified a rise in narrative warfare about critical minerals alongside an increase in global demand. Critical minerals is a term used to describe geostrategic metals; while the precise definition and list varies by country, rare earth elements are generally included. "Owing to their complexity, opacity, and geopolitical significance, critical minerals uniquely lend themselves to information manipulation," said the study.
In January of this year, Climate Information Watch, a youth-led nonprofit that researches disinformation related to climate change, proposed using the term "mineral disinformation" to capture this trend. The organization's founder, Andjelija Kedzic, said in written comments for this article that the suppression of independent voices including journalists, activists and civil society globally was a key part of this strategy. "This systematic silencing primarily of the local voices points to a wider transnational effort to gain strategic discursive dominance and limit accountability and scrutiny in the global competition over critical minerals," she said.
She identified particular risk factors for Myanmar, where the jailing of journalists and other tactics have hindered independent access to data about the rare earth mining industry and contributed to a "climate of repression that directly shapes what information becomes visible or suppressed."
"Myanmar's civil conflict has created an extremely dangerous, constrained, and volatile information environment," she said. "Critical voices are consistently marginalized, which lays fertile ground for mineral disinformation to likely be perceived as relevant information."
The KIA-India rare earths conspiracy story plays into these vulnerabilities, using credible pieces of information as launch points for introducing claims that are both provocative and difficult to verify. According to Kedzic, it also uses established information warfare techniques in the critical minerals battleground. "This case utilizes a well-known tactic that is used within both climate and mineral disinformation, where the strategic production of content is designed for amplification across social media ecosystems," she said. "Fabricated articles from false media outlets, often citing vague 'investigations' or unnamed 'analysts,' can easily be shared by bots, trolls, and genuine users on platforms such as Facebook or X."
First Round of Publications
The story appeared on five websites in November over a span of eight days; all of these websites offer content promotion, with a focus on finance, technology and entrepreneurship.
Archived version of an article published on the website Tech Bullion on November 18, 2025. The article was removed from the website after the editors were contacted for this investigation on February 5, 2026.
It was first published in Tech Bullion on November 18 with a byline for Zeeshan Yousaf. A link to his author bio leads to a LinkedIn profile for a Pakistan-based content writer specializing in search engine optimization and increasing website and application traffic. When contacted by e-mail, Zeeshan Yousaf replied, "Send me your WhatsApp number. I don't understand. What are you talking about?". He did not respond to questions about the India-KIA conspiracy piece.
The LinkedIn profile of Zeeshan Yousaf. Screenshot captured on March 20, 2026.
Tech Bullion claims to be a London-based financial technology news platform and a project of the Rich Media Network, a self-described digital media company that specializes in content publishing and marketing. OpenCorporates, a free online database of information collected from corporate records, lists Angela Scott-Briggs and Joachim Okechukwu Mba as Tech Bullion's ultimate beneficial owners. Angela Scott-Briggs' profile on the Tech Bullion website describes her as its editor.
The Tech Bullion homepage. Screenshot captured on March 20, 2026
The “our services” page on the Rich Media Network website. Screenshot captured on March 21, 2026.
Angela Scott-Briggs’ profile on the Tech Bullion website. Screenshot captured on March 24, 2026
A list of questions sent to Angela Scott-Briggs and Tech Bullion's general email initially elicited what appeared to be an auto-response signed by Scott-Briggs, explaining the terms, conditions and rates for publishing paid content. Two minutes later, Scott-Briggs replied, "The said post has now been deleted" — an apparent reference to the article in question, which was scrubbed from the Tech Bullion website. Scott-Briggs did not reply to further emailed questions.
An auto-response from Tech Bullion in response to questions about its publication of an inauthentic article alleging a conspiracy between India and the Kachin Independence Army to access Myanmar’s rare earths.
On November 19, a day after the story's initial publication, it was republished on the website Digital Journal, with attribution to Binary News Network. This version ends with a disclaimer that the article includes information provided by an independent third-party content provider, and notes that readers can email Binary News Network if they would like to request the article's removal. Digital Journal claims to be a Canada-based online platform operating under the Binary News Network, a content syndication network for PR wires. Binary News Network did not reply to an emailed list of questions, but the article was removed from the Digital Journal website hours after the email was sent.
An archived version of the article published on the website Digital Journal on November 19, 2025. The article was removed from the website after the editors were contacted for this investigation on February 5, 2026.
On November 20, the article was republished on Daily Silicon Valley, a website that presents itself as a magazine for entrepreneurs. Its contact page provides an email for a Sunita Pariyar. She did not reply to an emailed list of questions.
A version of the article posted on the website Silicon Valley Daily. Screenshot captured on March 24, 2026.
The website Silicon Valley Times ran a new version of the story on November 24, with similar content, but different wording and quotes. Although this is the fourth site on which the story was published, it is referenced by other outlets during a second wave of publication in December.
A version of the article published on the website Silicon Valley Times. Screenshot captured on March 20, 2026.
A technical audit of Silicon Valley Times' digital footprint using a Google analytics tracking tag uncovers its shared Google account usage history with Think7Figures. This finding indicates that Silicon Valley Times and Think7Figures are managed under the same Google account. Research on LinkedIn identified the founder of Think7Figures as a Nepali national named Sujan Pariyar. Further tracking using Google analytics shows that he runs at least three active websites of a similar style.
Profile of Sujan Pariyar on the Silicon Valley Times website. Screenshot captured March 21, 2026.
An analysis of Sujan Pariyar's public Instagram posts shows that he has a sister who goes alternately by Sumitra and Usha. Photos on her Instagram profile match a Quora profile for a Sunita Pariyar, indicating she is the same person as the listed contact for Daily Silicon Valley. This is further confirmed by her LinkedIn profile, which shows that she identifies as working in "content marketing" and posts content from Daily Silicon Valley as well as Think7Figures.
The connection between Sujan and Sumitra Pariyar indicates that two publishers of the KIA-India conspiracy story, Daily Silicon Valley and Silicon Valley Times, could be nodes in a family-run operation, possibly designed to amplify content. Questions emailed to the editors of the Silicon Valley Times did not elicit a response.
Further research conducted by Fulde-Hardy of Graphika found that the websites Daily Silicon Valley, Silicon Valley Times, Think7Figures and another site called The Los Angelers are hosted on the same infrastructure, suggesting these domains are part of the same network. Fulde-Hardy also found that Vefogix, a self-described "AI-powered link building and guest post marketplace," advertised "guest post" content placement on siliconvalleytime.com for $92.00. This investigation could not determine whether the KIA-India conspiracy story was published with assistance from Vefogix or any other third-party site.
An advertisement on the website Vefogix to publish content on siliconvalleytime.com for a fee of $92. Screenshot captured March 27, 2026.
The website Big News Network published a similar version of the story on November 26. Big News Network claims to be a "specialist online news service" incorporated in the United Arab Emirates, with offices in Australia. A report published in 2020 by the EU Disinfo Lab, an independent nonprofit, found that Big News Network previously distributed inauthentic content related to India across hundreds of smaller sites, in what appeared to be an effort to improve the articles' search engine indexation.
An archived version of an article published on the website Big News Network on November 26, 2025. The article was removed from the website after Big News Network was contacted for this article on February 5, 2026.
Big News Network credits authorship of the KIA-India conspiracy article to BusinesNews Wire, a website which specializes in press releases and search engine optimization. It is registered in Glasgow, with Uzair Hassan, a Pakistani national, listed as the director and beneficial owner. Uzair Hassan, who also goes by Uzair Hassan Butt, is also the CEO of Big News Network, and is listed as an author on the Tech Bullion website, where his profile describes him as a "professional business expert and SEO blogger" working in PR distribution with more than 500 media websites and blogs. Uzair Hasan's connection to both Tech Bullion and Big News Network indicates another possible attempt to amplify content and thereby increase search engine optimization.
Profiles for Uzair Hassan Butt, also known as Uzair Hasan, on the websites for BusinesNews Wire and Tech Bullion. Screenshots captured March 24, 2026.
A list of questions sent to the general contact email for BusinesNews Wire elicited a response from Uzair Hasan. He wrote that the KIA-India conspiracy article was a "third party guest post story" provided by a freelancer. He also said that it was "paid by a platform called Fiver" — an apparent reference to fiverr.com, an online marketplace connecting freelancers to people or businesses looking for services. He did not reply to further questions; the article was subsequently deleted from the Big News Network website.
It is not the first time that Fiverr has been linked to the distribution of inauthentic content by pro-Pakistan networks. A 2021 investigation by the nonprofit news organization Coda Story found that a network of inauthentic social media accounts posing as news outlets had hired freelancers using Fiverr to spread propaganda favorable to Pakistani interests. The report built on research by Graphika showing connections between these accounts and a digital marketing firm based in Pakistan.
The KIA has been fighting for an autonomous homeland in northern Myanmar since the 1960s. Since Myanmar's 2021 military coup, it has also played a leading role in the country's wider uprising to overthrow the junta. Conflict dynamics have added new dimensions to Myanmar's rare earth mining industry, which has boomed over the past decade along the country's eastern border with China.
The industry is highly secretive, with no published permit data and mining sites tightly guarded. But import data reported by China indicates that Myanmar has in recent years surpassed China as the world's largest supplier of heavy rare earth elements used in electric vehicles, precision-guided weapons and other geostrategic technologies.
Satellite images show that the largest concentration of rare earth mining sites in Myanmar are near the town of Pangwa, in Kachin State's Chipwi township.
This investigation found that the Tech Bullion article, and subsequent republications, extrapolate from established information to make new claims. In October of 2024, the Kachin Independence Army seized Pangwa, giving it new leverage over Myanmar's rare earth mining industry. Reuters has since reported that in December of 2024, India's state-run rare earth mining and refining firm, IREL, sent a study team to Kachin State, and that an Indian delegation including IREL held an online meeting with people from Kachin to discuss their "interest in reopening the rare-earths sector." Reuters also reported that in July of 2025, India's Ministry of Mines asked state-owned and private firms to explore collecting and transporting rare earth samples from areas under KIA control. Another Reuters report found that in July of 2025, the administration of United States President Trump heard proposals on ways the US could access rare earths from Myanmar, including by pursuing a deal with the KIA and cooperating with India. The Tech Bullion article appears to build off of this news to introduce new, unsubstantiated claims.
The story alleged that India and the KIA are secretly partnering to construct a 365-kilometer road from India's Vijaynagar, Arunachal Pradesh, to Myanmar's Chipwi, Kachin State, in order for India to secure rare earths from Kachin, without approval from the Myanmar military. This investigation did not identify any evidence of plans or actions taken by India or the KIA to construct a road at these locations, or to collaborate in constructing a road at any location.
The story also alleged that India and the KIA are secretly partnering to build a second road from the KIA's headquarters of Laiza through Myanmar's Sagaing Region to Rihkhawdar, Chin State, with funding partially sourced from Myanmar's illegal timber smuggling networks. No evidence was found for this claim either.
In exchange for access to Kachin's rare earths, the story claimed, India is secretly providing the KIA with medical aid, logistical support and advanced weapons, transported through India's border state of Arunachal Pradesh. This investigation did not identify any evidence of any current or planned military collaboration between India and the KIA, or any evidence that India was providing any form of military or technical support to the KIA.
The story further claimed that the KIA has pledged to suppress "anti-India insurgent groups," including the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-K(YA), near Myanmar's border with India. The NSCN-K(YA) is one of several sub-factions of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland, which has for years launched cross-border attacks into Northeast India from bases in northern Myanmar. The Indian government considers the NSCN-K and its affiliates to be "unlawful" associations. This investigation did not identify any evidence to substantiate claims that the KIA had pledged to assist India in suppressing any armed groups in Myanmar.
The story alleged that the KIA has tacitly endorsed India's claims over disputed territory in Myanmar's Chin State and Kabaw Valley. In February of 2025, tensions resurfaced over longstanding disputes about control over territory in these areas. This investigation did not identify any evidence to substantiate that allegation.
The articles also attributed to an anonymous Myanmar military official the claim that the military would respond to unauthorized Indian operations in Myanmar with military action. Myanmar military publications have continued to highlight friendly ties and cooperation with India. This investigation did not identify any evidence to substantiate claims of unauthorized Indian operations in Myanmar.
Both the Indian Embassy in Myanmar and the Kachin Independence Organization, the KIA's administrative counterpart, have publicly rejected the allegations made in the Tech Bullion article and subsequent republications. For this investigation, we reached out to all nine websites that published the story with a request to substantiate the claims. None replied to a detailed list of questions or provided any evidence to substantiate their claims; three of these websites subsequently removed the story from their platforms without giving a reason. We also reached out to Neha Arora, a Reuters journalist who contributed reporting on India's preliminary rare earths engagement with the KIA. "We did not contribute to the Silicon Valley Time report and have no new reporting beyond the article we published last year," she said.
A second cluster of articles was published over five days in December, on websites with ties to Myanmar or Northeast India. All of these articles reference the Silicon Valley Times article as their source of information. While it is considered journalistic best practice to give those being investigated the opportunity to respond, none of these outlets appear to have reached out to the Indian Embassy in Myanmar or the Kachin Independence Organization for comments.
On December 13, the story was published in Burmese on the website CNI Myanmar, which ran a version on its English page four days later. CNI, which stands for Channel News Independent, regularly publishes content favorable toward the Myanmar military. An email sent to CNI bounced back; questions sent to CNI and a journalist listed on some CNI bylines, Chit Min Tun, over Facebook Messenger were delivered but went unanswered.
On December 14, a day after the article was published on CNI in Burmese, it was republished by Eleven Media Group, one of the largest Burmese-language news outlets. Eleven Media Group identifies as independent, but has published content favorable toward the military since the coup. An emailed list of questions sent to Eleven Media Group went unanswered.
Also on December 14, a version of the story was published in English in the Ukrhul Times, an online news site originating in the Ukhrul district of Manipur, India. Unlike the previous versions of the article, this version notes that the Indian embassy in Myanmar denied the article's allegations, referencing the embassy's response to The Statesman as reported by NP News. The Ukhrul Times did not reply to an emailed list of questions.
An English version of the story was also published on December 14 on myanmar.com, a self-described travel, culture and business website. The website's news tab has since been cleared, but its Facebook page still displays the article. It shows a dateline of Ukhrul, indicating that this version may have been republished from the Ukhrul Times website. Facebook analytics for the myanmar.com page show an address in Sherman, Texas and a contact email for a Thomas Winn. Thomas Winn did not reply to our questions emailed to him.
Coordinated Inauthentic Distribution on X
Beginning two weeks after the story's initial publication, it was shared in four coordinated waves on X. These posts almost entirely follow the same pattern: Screenshots of one or more versions of the article, accompanied by summaries of the allegations and common hashtags.
This investigation identified 78 unique accounts that shared versions of the article. A review of the "about" tab (a feature which X introduced in November of 2025) of these accounts showed that the majority of them are based in Pakistan. A further 20 accounts that shared the article have since been suspended. No direct links to the Pakistani government were identified, but some of the accounts shared other content which showed similarities to Pakistani government PR messaging.
This investigation also found that 19 of the total 78 accounts that shared the article are geo-blocked in India, meaning that users in India cannot view their content. In 2025, following the outbreak of hostilities between India and Pakistan, X geo-blocked thousands of accounts in response to orders from the Indian government.
In an attempt to understand whether any of the accounts that shared the KIA-India conspiracy article had been geo-blocked in relation to these orders, an information request was submitted to India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. In a written response, the ministry stated that because the inquiry touched on matters related to the sovereignty, integrity, security and strategic interests of India, the information sought was exempt from disclosure requirements under the Right to Information Act.
This investigation did not conduct an exhaustive search of all X accounts which posted versions of the article, but merely sought to analyze a representative sample.
The first wave of distribution on X occurred on December 2, 2025, when at least 59 X accounts originating in Pakistan shared versions of the article along with the hashtag #StopIndiaHegemony.
On December 4, at least six X accounts shared the article, with the hashtag #DefendMyanmarSovereignty. At least five of these accounts originated in Pakistan.
On December 9, at least nine X accounts shared the article, also with the hashtag #DefendMyanmarSovereignty. At least eight of these accounts originated in Pakistan.
On December 14 and 15, at least six X accounts made posts which reference an alleged rare earths conspiracy between India and the KIA, with the hashtag #MyanmarFactCheck. These posts do not include links to any articles or screenshots. At the time of analysis, the "about" section of these accounts indicated that three of these accounts originated in Singapore, two in France, and one did not list a location. All of these accounts also post content favorable toward the Myanmar military junta.
On Facebook
Research conducted with assistance from Graphika identified 24 Facebook accounts originating in Pakistan which shared versions of the article on December 10, 2025, along with the hashtag #StopRareEarthExploitation. This investigation did not conduct an exhaustive search of all Facebook accounts which posted versions of the article, but merely sought to analyze a representative sample. As with the posts on X, no direct links to the Pakistani government were identified, but some of the accounts shared other content which showed similarities to Pakistani government PR messaging.
This investigation was unable to identify the source of this influence campaign, but four primary, and possibly intersecting, possibilities emerged. They are presented here not as conclusive evidence or allegations, but as areas for further research.
Information wars between India and Pakistan go back decades, and intensified during armed hostilities in 2025. Research by the Center for the Study of Organized Hate, an independent nonprofit, found that X was the primary platform on which inauthentic material was spread at the time. The hashtag #StopIndiaHegemony was used in at least 64 posts which shared the KIA-India conspiracy story on X. While this in itself does not confirm whether the story originated from pro-Pakistan networks, it indicates a convergence of the story and anti-India propaganda interests. To date, there are few if any documented cases of the coordinated distribution of inauthentic news pertaining to Myanmar by Pakistan or pro-Pakistan networks. Angshuman Choudhury of the National University of Singapore noted that the KIA-India conspiracy story could represent "the early signs of a growing anti-India disinfo ecosystem in Pakistan that is venturing into new spaces."
Possibility 2: The Myanmar Military Junta, and/or Pro-junta Networks
Another possibility is that the KIA-India conspiracy story originated elsewhere, and the Pakistan-origin X accounts offered a platform for distribution with converging interests. This possibility is supported by the content and framing of the articles and posts. They accuse the KIA and India of plotting to undermine Myanmar's "sovereignty" in violation of international law, and highlight threats to regional stability. At least fifteen of the posts on X use the hashtag #DefendMyanmarSovereignty. While these details are insufficient to identify an author or motive, the Myanmar military and its supporters have a documented history of manipulating information to instigate conflict and consolidate power; the military even has a directorate of public relations and psychological warfare. Invoking national sovereignty and positioning the military as the guardian of stability are well-worn tools in the military's playbook.
Possibility 3: India-Myanmar Border Interests
The India-Myanmar border, particularly where Myanmar's Sagaing region meets India's Manipur state, has seen a spike in disinformation in recent years, as part of a wider information war surrounding the Manipur conflict. While the KIA-India rare earths conspiracy piece does not primarily focus on this border, it does make specific claims that indicate a familiarity with political flashpoints in the region. In particular, the articles allege that the KIA agreed to support India in combating the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (Yung Aung) in Myanmar, and that the KIA gave its tacit support to India's claims over contested territory in Myanmar's Chin State and the Kabaw Valley. These topics rarely make headlines in mainstream Myanmar or India news, but two outlets that published the KIA-India rare earths conspiracy article, CNI Myanmar and the Ukhrul Times, focus on these border areas. The KIA-India conspiracy story's mention of the NSCN-K(YA) and contested territory at the Manipur border, which have little to do with rare earths, suggests that the origin source of the story either had specific interests in these topics, or sought to exploit them toward another end.
Possibility 4: China, and/or Pro-China Networks
China, a longstanding rival of India, has one of the world's most sophisticated and far-reaching propaganda apparatuses. China and pro-China networks have engaged in disinformation campaigns targeting India in the past; China also has a vested interest in maintaining dominance over rare earth supply chains originating in Myanmar. Choudhury of the National University of Singapore noted that China and pro-China networks would have both a motive and the means to orchestrate a disinformation campaign such as the KIA-India conspiracy story. "India's outreach to the KIA could threaten China's monopoly over the rare earth geographies in northern Myanmar," he said, adding that China has a warm relationship with Pakistan, a key partner in its Belt and Road Initiative. "One wonders, without being too conspiratorial, if some form of coordinated, transnational disinformation network is at play here — one that seeks to hinder India's attempts to secure rare earths from KIA-controlled areas in northern Myanmar."
Pro-China networks have engaged in influence operations regarding rare earths in the past. In 2022, research by the American cybersecurity firm Mandiant, a subsidiary of Google, found that a network of inauthentic online accounts favorable to the Chinese government had spread false information about foreign rare earth mining companies as part of a wider influence operation. Its methods, the study found, included "microtargeting" specific audiences as a way to manipulate public discourse.
Whether the India-KIA rare earths story has links to pro-China networks remains unconfirmed, but this investigation, alongside research from Fulde-Hardy of Graphika, did identify two instances in which some of the same digital infrastructure was used to share unsubstantiated claims on other topics within the past year.
In May of 2025, Tech Bullion published an article that alleged a conspiracy between Donald Trump Jr. and Venezuelan opposition figure María Corina Machado involving rare earths. Like the India-KIA rare earths conspiracy story, Tech Bullion attributed the Trump Jr.-Machado conspiracy piece to Zeeshan Yousaf. Donald Trump Jr. rejected the article in a post on X; Tech Bullion took down the article after finding that it did not meet the site's standards. In another similarity to the India-KIA rare earths conspiracy article, the Trump Jr.-Machado conspiracy article was published on Big News Network and attributed to BusinesNews Wire; the article has since been scrubbed from the Big News Network site. This investigation could not identify any evidence that the Trump Jr.-Machado conspiracy story was linked to pro-China networks.
Archived version of the now-deleted article published on Tech Bullion on May 14, 2025 alleging a conspiracy between Donald Trump Jr. and María Corina Machado. This version was captured on Internet Archive, a non-profit digital library.
Additional research conducted by Fulde-Hardy of Graphika, however, identified a separate case of shared publishing platforms with the India-KIA conspiracy story, which did involve Spamouflage networks. Last year, unsubstantiated claims targeting an aide to the Dalai Lama who has since passed away were published in articles on Big News Network and Daily Silicon Valley, as well as Think7Figures, a website run by Sujan Pariyar of the Silicon Valley Times. Fulde-Hardy also found that similar claims were amplified by X accounts very likely located in Pakistan, and that some of these X accounts linked to Fiverr accounts in their bios, indicating that they may publish paid content. One of these X accounts also shared links to a Pakistan-based PR company called Zubish Digital.
Further research by Fulde-Hardy found that links to domains for articles about the Dalai Lama's former aide, along with cartoons and hashtags, were spread on Instagram, Tumblr, Reddit and the Japanese picture-sharing platform Pixiv. "The dissemination of the content on these specific platforms, the cartoons and accounts' characteristics are typical of Spamouflage's characteristics that we monitor," she said.
An archived list of the posts on X and Facebook which shared versions of the article, or referenced its claims, in coordinated waves. Most of the accounts show a base in Pakistan.
Emily Fishbein is a freelance journalist and fellow with the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network. Jauman Naw is a freelance journalist from Myanmar.
This investigation was unable to identify the source of this influence campaign, but four primary, and possibly intersecting, possibilities emerged. They are presented here not as conclusive evidence or allegations, but as areas for further research.
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