For the last few years, political propaganda on social media has been a part and parcel of electoral politics across the world. Alongside that, advertising has become an important tool for creating and spreading propaganda on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. This is because regular social media users cannot control who views their posts. However, on advertising platforms like Facebook in particular, advertisers can select target audiences based on region, age, gender, etc. Targeting audiences in this way has proven to be very successful electorally in the past. When it was misused, it resulted in data scandals like that of Cambridge Analytica.
In this story, Alt News will investigate a network of Facebook pages that are misusing Facebook as a platform and engaging in political propaganda in favour of the BJP, and against non-BJP parties. We will also illustrate how Facebook’s advertising policy is allowing the BJP to spend crores of rupees on Facebook to use it for advertising with the help of masked websites.
Alt News received information that some of the websites are identical in appearance and their content is identical verbatim except for the domain name (referred to as the website) mentioned in their privacy policy and disclaimer pages. These websites are hosted on the same IP address. The Facebook pages linked to these websites have massive followings, through which they circulate pro-BJP propaganda. The pages spend lakhs of rupees on Facebook advertisements. Next, we started investigating these websites and others related to them. One of the websites found in the list in the intel we received was ‘phirekbaarmodisarkar(dot)com’.
phirekbaarmodisarkar(dot)com
To verify the information received by us, we checked the phirekbaarmodisarkar(dot)com website using the Website IP Lookup tool. This led us to the IP address (13.232.63.153) of this website.
Following this, we used the Reverse IP Lookup tool to collect more information related to this IP address. We found 13 websites hosted on the same IP Address (13.232.63.153) as that of the phirekbaarmodisarkar.com website. In October 2022, 14 websites were hosted on this IP address. Between October and the writing of this article, two websites (buababua.com and up2022.com) were down and one new website (bhakbudbak.com) was hosted on the same IP address. To illustrate this, we are including archived links from October 13, 2022, and March 14. All of these have the same interface. Each website features three images, a Facebook page link, and a disclaimer and a privacy policy page.
To know more about the history of the IP Address 13.232.63.153, we used BuiltWith’s IP Address Usage History tool. When we searched for this IP address (13.232.63.153) through the tool, we found that between December 2019 and the writing of this article, a total of 23 websites were hosted on this IP address. The list of these websites is given below. One can also access the archives of each of the sites here (file). No archived versions were found for three of the 23 websites.
Source: BuiltWith
jharkhand2019(dot)com
chormachayeshor(dot)com
ghargharraghubar(dot)com
thefrustratedbengali(dot)com
phirekbaarmodisarkar(dot)com
modisangnitish(dot)com
nirmamata(dot)com
up2022(dot)com
bhakbudbak(dot)com
mahathugbandhan(dot)com
telanganaatmagouravam(dot)com
kamaldobara(dot)com
olirattumputhuvai(dot)com
valarchipaadaiyiltamizhagam(dot)com
buababua(dot)com
teisheabarbjpsarkaar(dot)com
modisaatherajasthan(dot)com
theindiancompass(dot)com
meghalayawithmodi(dot)com
mp2023(dot)com
pappugappu(dot)com
shivshahiparat(dot)com
chuntliexpress(dot)com
Many of the websites identified in this list are down. When we tried to collect information about the domains of these websites with the help of Registration Data Lookup tool, we found that the information pertaining to all these domains had been hidden with the help of Domains by Proxy (DBP). Domains by Proxy (DBP) is an Internet company that provides domain privacy services. With its help, instead of the details of the real owner of the domain in the WHOIS database, the name of the owner appears as ‘Domain By Proxy’. In other words, the company is entrusted with the responsibility of keeping the domain owner’s personal information confidential.
While buying domains on a website like GoDaddy, users can pay extra to subscribe to this service, i.e., to hide the domain owner’s personal information from the WHOIS database. The template and content pattern of these websites are the same. All these websites have a home page, disclaimer and privacy policy page with three pictures. Apart from this, each of them has a link to a Facebook page.
This can be seen clearly in the screenshots in the slides given below.
Another thing is common to all these sites. The Facebook pages associated with them indiscriminately spend lakhs of rupees on Facebook advertising. To collect information related to this, we searched the ‘Meta Ad Library Report’ of Facebook’s parent company Meta. We checked how much money was spent on advertisements through Facebook pages linked to each of the websites from February 21, 2019, to March 10. The report is quite detailed, and the file is attached below. Overall, the Facebook pages linked to these websites have spent a total of ₹3,47,05,292 by broadcasting a total of 48,930 advertisements so far.
These websites often run advertisements in support of the BJP and many of these websites and their associated Facebook pages are dedicated to spreading propaganda against opposition parties and leaders. For example:
Thugs of Jharkhand – Targets Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the Congress
Chor Machaye Shor – Targets former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Hooda and the Congress
The Frustrated Bengali – Targets Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress
Nirmamata – Targets Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress
Bhak Budbak – Targets Bihar deputy chief minister Tejaswi Yadav and the RJD
Mahathugbandhan – Targets Opposition parties
Bua Babua – Targets former chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati
Pappu Gappu – Pappu Gappu – Targets Rahul Gandhi and the Congress
Chuntli Express – Targets the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress
It is worth noting that the Facebook pages linked to these websites have run advertisements against the opposition parties left and right. But the ‘disclaimer’ provided in these contains either the name of the website, or the name of the same page which has posted the advertisement.
When it comes to disclaimers, Meta rules demand that the advertiser provides their name, the name of the page they run, or another organisation as the entity behind the ad served by that Facebook Page. If they are running ads for another organisation, Facebook requires them to provide additional credentials – such as a phone number, email and website or a certificate from the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee from the Election Commission of India to help ensure that the organisation running the ad is authentic.
Advertising spends by websites linked to Facebook page (File)
What kind of content do these pages contain?
The Facebook page Phir Ek Baar Modi Sarkar published an advertisement between March 16 and 18, 2023, with the false claim that Asle Toje, vice-chairman of the Nobel Committee, had named Narendra Modi as the top contender for the Nobel Peace Prize. This claim was found to be misleading in Alt News’ fact-check investigation. The ad was removed by Facebook stating that it went against Meta Advertising Standards.
The page has run other ads containing pro-BJP propaganda and posted content targeting opposition parties and leaders. The advertisements run by this page feature BJP and non-BJP leaders like Mamata Banerjee, Tejaswi Yadav, KCR, Rahul Gandhi along with other opposition parties. Some examples of this are shown in the slides below.
Reach of websites linked to Facebook page (File)
Contact details provided by Facebook pages (File)
In the Ad Library Report of Facebook’s parent company Meta, the pages’ contact details (mobile number, email, address and website) have been given in the disclaimer of the advertisements run by them. We noticed that the mobile number (+91 6359907101) is given in the disclaimer of the Facebook page ‘Bhak Budbak’.
When we searched for this number on Google, we discovered that a Facebook page named ‘Paltu Aadmi Party’ had shared it and made an appeal to add it to certain WhatsApp groups. Since the Facebook posts indexed on Google have been deleted, these links are broken. Following this, we searched for this number on Facebook and found two (1, 2) posts by the Facebook page ‘Paltu Aadmi Party’.
In both these posts, the \page shared this mobile number and wrote, “Add our number 6359907101 to your WhatsApp groups to defeat the Aam Aadmi Party”. When we searched for this page in the Meta Ad Library Report, we found that it had run a lot of advertisements on Facebook against Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party. This page spent a total of ₹42,49,050 by running 2,553 ads so far. This confirms that this page is also a part of this network.
The contact details of all the Facebook pages included in this network, taken from the Meta Ad Library Report, are given in the table below. We will come back to this issue of contact details further on in this story.
Websites’ link to BJP
We checked one of the websites hosted on the IP address under our purview (13.232.63.153) phirekbaarmodisarkar(dot)com and found that it contained a link to a Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/PhirSeModiSarkar). The name of this Facebook page is ‘Phir Ek Baar Modi Sarkar’. With more than 42 lakh followers, the page actively posts in support of BJP and against opposition parties. When we looked at ‘Page Transparency’ in the ‘About’ section of this page, we found that it had been created on July 9, 2016 and was earlier named, ‘Uttar Dega Uttar Pradesh’.
It is worth noting that before the Uttar Pradesh 2017 Assembly elections, the BJP had run a campaign named ‘Uttar Dega Uttar Pradesh’. On August 26, 2017, a few months after the elections were over, the name of the page was changed to ‘Har Pradesh Ki Pukar BJP Sarkar’. The name of this page was last changed to ‘Phir Ek Baar Modi Sarkar’ on September 2, 2017. According to information in the ‘Page Transparency’ section, this page has run ads about social issues, elections or politics. However, many of its ads are active. When we checked the ad library of this page, we found that this page actively spends money on Facebook ads in support of BJP and against opposition parties.
While looking for more in formation on this page, we found an article by The Quint dated September 28, 2016. It also contained reports of parties’ social media activity ahead of the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections. According to this report, BJP’s page ‘Uttar Dega Uttar Pradesh’ had about 6 lakh likes.
According to a story by Aaj Tak dated December 5, 2016, BJP Uttar Pradesh had started an initiative called ‘UP Ke Mann Ki Baat’. For this, it had created a website and a Facebook page whose campaign title was ‘Uttar Dega Uttar Pradesh’. According to this report, 14 lakh people had followed the Facebook page ‘Uttar Dega Uttar Pradesh’, 3 lakh more than the Facebook page of BJP Uttar Pradesh.
As per a report by the Hindustan Times dated February 4, 2017, the BJP was using the ‘Uttar Dega Uttar Pradesh’ page on Facebook to publicize the achievements of the Modi government.
On March 12, 2017, The Indian Express reported that ahead of the Uttar Pradesh elections, the BJP had formed teams at several levels to ramp up the party’s social media presence. As many as 10,344 WhatsApp groups were created by these teams and four Facebook pages were operated by these teams to circulate audio and video clips among party members, namely ‘BJP4UP’, ‘Uttar Dega Uttar Pradesh’, ‘Ab Maaf Karo Sarkar’ and ‘U.P. ‘Mann Ki Baat’ is included.
Before the Uttar Pradesh 2017 assembly elections, the BJP had launched a campaign called ‘Uttar Dega Uttar Pradesh‘. This Facebook page was created only in 2016, and its name was later changed to ‘Phir Ek Baar Modi Sarkar’. We found a post on this page dated December 8, 2016, containing the website of the campaign, Facebook page/ Twitter handle username, and mobile numbers.
Facebook/Twitter connection
Since the name and username of this Facebook page have been changed, the Facebook link is broken (404 error). However, the Twitter handle does not have many followers, so the account is inactive and no changes have been made to it. This account has been inactive since the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. The last tweet posted by this handle was on March 8, 2017.
It is worth noting that the seventh and final phase of the Uttar Pradesh 2017 assembly elections commenced on March 8, 2017. When we examined old tweets posted by this account, we discovered it is directly connected to the Facebook page ‘Uttar Dega Uttar Pradesh’ (which has now been changed to ‘Phir Ek Baar Modi Sarkar’). We found a tweet dated August 11, 2016 from a Twitter account (@UttarDegaUP) containing a Facebook short link along with the text. By clicking on this link, one reaches the page ‘Phir Ek Baar Modi Sarkar’, whose old name was ‘Uttar Dega Uttar Pradesh’. (The archived version of the redirect link can be accessed here). In addition, along with the text in the Facebook post, the date and time are also exactly the same, both being August 11, 2016 at 3:56 PM.
Website/mobile number connection
We noticed that the website ‘upkemannkibaat(dot)com’ and mobile number 7505403403 have been mentioned in the 2016 posts of the Facebook page ‘Phir Ek Baar Modi Sarkar’. Alt News performed a search on Twitter using a date filter, which led us to a tweet posted by the official handle of the BJP and the official handle of BJP Uttar Pradesh containing both this website and mobile number. BJP Uttar Pradesh had also mentioned this website and mobile number in its promo video. The BJP had used this mobile number in its campaign ‘UP Ke Mann Ki Baat’. In 2016, this mobile number was also present on the banner of the official Twitter handle of BJP Uttar Pradesh. This confirms that this mobile number belonged to BJP Uttar Pradesh.
BJP Headquarters address
Alt News applied a date filter in the Meta Ad Library report and checked the disclaimer details of the advertisement posted by the Facebook page ‘Phir Ek Baar Modi Sarkar’ in 2019. We found that an address was mentioned here – (6 – A, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg, Near ITO, Minto Bridge Colony, Barakhamba, New Delhi, India 110002). When we tried to collect more information about this address, we found that it is the address of BJP’s headquarters. The same address is also given on the BJP’s official website.
Facebook Advertising policy being bypassed
According to Meta’s Advertising Standards, when an advertiser classifies an ad as related to social issues, elections or politics, they must disclose who paid for the ad. Its information is present on the advertisement in the form of ‘Published by’ where the name of the person running the advertisement is given. It is worth noting that on the ‘Create disclaimers and link ad accounts’ page, it is mentioned that any disclaimer created must reflect the name of the organisation or individual paying for the ads.
Apart from this, Facebook also says that this disclaimer does not take the place of any legally required disclaimer and disclosure. It leaves the onus on the advertiser to comply with the applicable laws on advertising. Facebook has established two ways to get the disclaimer approved. The first is through the normal legal name and identity documents. The second is where the advertiser has to provide a self-declared organisation name (India based address, business phone number, website, domain email). After this, the ‘disclaimer’ gets approved.
The easiest way to get this ‘Paid for by’ disclaimer approved is by using those masked websites, which is why they were created. Here, a simple website is created after buying a domain, which contains a link to the Privacy Policy page, Disclaimer page and Facebook. They then create a domain email through the domain purchased earlier. Along with this, they submit their address and mobile number and send it to Facebook for approval.
In the above article, we have compiled the list of addresses submitted by these pages for disclaimer approval in a table. A closer look makes it evident that some addresses are incomplete, containing only the name of the city and state. However, Facebook has given approval to these disclaimers despite the incomplete information, through which these pages continue running advertisements indiscriminately. This is a major flaw in Facebook’s advertising system, which these pages are cashing in on. It allows them to spend crores of rupees on running political ads on the platform without disclosing who paid for them.
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