Al Jazeera investigation: Indian ‘shadow’ consultants now targeting US midterms
Indian political consultancies that have covertly run campaigns in Kenya, South America and India are now linked to shadow-posting in US races ahead of Tuesday’s midterms.
What to know
- Al Jazeera investigation names Indian political consultancies that build anonymous ‘shadow’ social media pages to run covert, often defamatory campaign content worldwide.
- Researchers and the New York Times have linked Indian-origin bot activity to the August 2026 Michigan Senate primary, where Haley Stevens lost to Abdul El-Sayed.
- Consultants interviewed say there are no limits or red lines in these shadow campaigns, which skirt Meta and Google political-ad transparency rules.
- Publication comes just ahead of the US midterm elections on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
Rajan Kumar Indian digital content creatorTushar Giri Political consultant, New Delhi
William Ruto President of Kenya
Haley Stevens US Democratic Senate candidate (Michigan)
Abdul El-Sayed Democratic Senate nominee, Michigan
How it unfolded 2 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlesposts
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Report circulates widely across social platforms ahead of midterms
The Al Jazeera piece is reposted repeatedly on Mastodon and Bluesky through the day, framed as coverage tied to the imminent US midterm elections, though without accompanying public debate in the evidence gathered.
“India’s political consultancies grow by covertly managing the world’s biggest elections. Now, they are exporting the dirty tricks to manipulate global elections, like the US midterms.”
— Al Jazeera, Investigative report · source -
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www.aljazeera.com/features/202... "India’s political consultancies grow by covertly managing the world’s biggest elections. Now, they are exporting the dirty tricks to manipulate global elections, like the US midterms." Via @aljazeera.com
2 more of the top 3 · 3 posts in this stretch
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"India’s political consultancies grow by covertly managing the world’s biggest elections. Now, they are exporting the dirty tricks to manipulate global elections, like the US midterms." Shadowy Indian election ‘consultants’ add US midterms to global footprint | US Midterm Elections 2026 | Al Jazeera https://www. aljazeera.com/features/2026/11…
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India's shadowy election consultants have gone global, manipulating elections from Kenya to the United States — for less than $10 a day — an Al Jazeera investigation reveals. ‘Manipulated’: Kenya to US mid...
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Al Jazeera details Indian consultants’ export of covert tactics to US midterms
Al Jazeera publishes an investigation, based on interviews with nearly a dozen Indian political consultants, describing how shadow campaign tactics honed in India, Kenya and other markets are now appearing in US races ahead of the midterms.
“We are manipulating elections; there is no other way to say it. The concept of electoral democracy is so overrated. There is no free will for voters. Everything is manipulated.”
— Tushar Giri -
background
Indian-linked bots back Haley Stevens before she loses Michigan primary — The New York Times first reported Indian social media bots and accounts shadow-posting videos supporting Democratic Senate candidate Haley Stevens ahead of Michigan’s August 4 primary; she lost to Abdul El-Sayed.
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background
Al Jazeera exposes shadow-page networks before India’s 2024 election — An earlier Al Jazeera investigation found a sprawling network of disguised political pages for sale on Meta and Google platforms, circumventing rules against misuse of targeted political advertising.
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Indian content creator builds covert posts for Ruto’s Kenya campaign — Rajan Kumar, a 22-year-old digital content creator in Ahmedabad, produced dozens of social media posts for $7 a day that were distributed via anonymous ‘shadow’ accounts backing William Ruto’s 2022 presidential bid in Kenya.