Indian Social Media Firms Run Shadow Campaigns for US Midterms

Researchers found that at least 28 social media accounts shared videos supporting Democrat Haley Stevens during her August 4 Senate primary in Michigan. The accounts garnered more than seven million views. At least 15 of these accounts posted from India. Stevens lost the primary to Abdul El-Sayed, who is the party's candidate for the upcoming midterm election on Tuesday.

The operation mirrors tactics used in other regions. In 2022, 22-year-old digital content creator Rajan Kumar worked from an unfurnished flat in Ahmedabad, India. He designed posters and edited videos for William Ruto's presidential campaign in Kenya. Kumar earned $7 a day under a monthly contract. He often delivered up to 100 creative assets per day, coordinated via Telegram groups. His work was not shared on Ruto's official channels. Instead, it appeared on shadow accounts designed to look independent. Kumar said the team would trim opposing leaders' speeches to twist their meaning or create posters with false claims. Ruto won the 2022 election and became Kenya's fifth president.

Political consultants in India describe the industry as a wholesale market for election manipulation. Tushar Giri, a New Delhi-based consultant, stated that the concept of electoral democracy is overrated and that everything is manipulated. He noted that India now attracts foreign campaigns because of its proven track record in complex electoral environments. Amogh Dhar Sharma, author of Backstage of Democracy, said these firms create hidden sources of power. He argued that the physical distance between the consultants and the campaigns provides plausible deniability if the operations are exposed.

The work relies on specific technical strategies to bypass platform rules. Meta and Google require political advertisers to verify their identities and disclose who paid for ads. Consultants say they exploit loopholes in these policies. They use premium virtual private networks to change the geographic origin of an account. This allows a person in one country to run targeted ads in another. One consultant described using a specific banknote serial number as a code to collect cash payments in Old Delhi. They said people used 10-rupee notes to collect millions in cash.

The risks of the work are tangible. Two Indian consultants, Zulfiqar Ahmad Khan and Mohamed Zaid Sami Kidwai, went missing in Nairobi in July 2022 while working for Ruto's campaign. They were found dead in October. Kenya's High Court terminated murder charges against 15 police officers in August 2026 after the prosecution requested the investigation be discontinued. Kumar said chatty chats are deleted and SIM cards are destroyed frequently to hide footprints.

The United States midterm election on Tuesday marks the latest front for these operations. India has previously worked on campaigns in South America, Africa, Australia, and Germany. Consultants say they face no limits or guardrails in their work. One anonymous consultant described black money as a pillar of political consultation, noting that firms abroad hire people on paper for random work to funnel payments through informal hawala networks.

Giri compared the industry to buying toys from China, stating that India offers the cheapest cost for election manipulation. Sharma noted that this trend extends India's history of business process outsourcing. The consultants said that the dirtier the tactics, the more money and opportunities they receive.