A fake news network is posing as a series of defunct Victorian newspaper titles – including the Brighton Herald – in a bid to influence people against Pakistan, according to anti-disinformation campaigners.
EU DisinfoLab has included a now-suspended Twitter account posing as the Brighton Herald in what it says is a worldwide network of sites “managed by an Indian influence network”.
DisinfoLab says its research has uncovered 265 fake local news sites in more than 65 countries, which have been regularly publishing content criticising Pakistan’s actions during the Kashmir conflict with India.
It has produced a map of where these local news sites have supposedly been operating from, which includes the Brighton Herald Twitter account, @brightonherald1.
Another account, @brightonherald, has also been suspended.
The real Brighton Herald founded in 1806, and was the town’s first newspaper, and was published until 1971, when it was folded into the Brighton Gazette, which in turn became the Brighton Leader, published by The Argus until 2017.
