Twitter Files || US think-tank identified 40,000 American Twitter users working ‘inauthentically’ for ‘Hindu nationalism’

American journalist Matt Taibbi, who is releasing the ‘Twitter Files’ in collaboration with Twitter owned Elon Musk, has now revealed that close to 40,000 Twitter accounts were sent to Twitter by a US think tank’s ‘disinformation lab’ accusing them of engaging in inauthentic behaviour in support of Hindu nationalism’ in 2021.

In its 17th instalment of Twitter Files, released on March 2, Taibbi wrote: “On June 8, 2021, an analyst at the Atlantic Council’s DFLab wrote to Twitter, ‘Hi Guys, attached you will find a spreadsheet of around 40K Twitter accounts that our researchers suspect is engaging in inauthentic behaviour in support of the BJP and Hindu nationalism more broadly.”

Notably, the email was sent to Yoek Roth, former head of trust and safety and Nick Pickles, head of global government affairs, at Twitter.

“DFRLab said it suspected 40,000 accounts of being paid employees or possibly volunteers of India’s BJP,” Taibbi tweeted. However, Taibbi also revealed that all the accounts were Americans, ‘many with no connection to India and no clue about Indian politics.’

“This DFRLab list of Hindu nationalists is weirdly packed with real septuagenarian Trump supporters,” Taibbi explained on Substack.

Interestingly, Taibbi also tweeted a few responses from those accounts. “I have no connection to any Hindu folks.. Just a Reagan Republican here in CT,” replied ‘Bobby Hailstone.’