Bellingcat

Bellingcat, 19 hours ago

India’s current government has increased the scrutiny of NGOs, journalists and human rights groups. This has led to the suspension of their licences under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) which permits organisations to receive funds from abroad.

Bellingcat, 19 hours ago

Thousands of non-profit organisations in India have lost access to foreign donors, forcing many to shut down. Meanwhile, some websites inhabiting the identity of news outlets and sharing hateful content appear to have been treated differently, allowing them to thrive.

Bellingcat, 19 hours ago

Two of the outlets we identified promote Hindu nationalism and vilify minority groups whilst receiving foreign donations or operating in ways that may be inconsistent with the Indian laws. These outlets are OpIndia and Hindu Existence.

Bellingcat, 19 hours ago

Two other outlets are receiving donations in ways that lack transparency: The Hindu Post and Jaipur Dialogues. Both could be linked to a far-right Hindu organisation in the US associated with the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) group.

Bellingcat, 19 hours ago

The RSS is a far-right paramilitary organisation that propagates Hindu nationalism. The ideology predates Prime Minister Modi and his party, the BJP, but their decade in power has catapulted it into the mainstream.

Bellingcat, 19 hours ago

OpIndia is an Indian right-wing website with proximity to the government. Its articles often target Muslims; one piece titled “The Psychology of Indian Muslims” published last year terms Indian Muslims as “ignorant”, “indoctrinated” and “deceitful”.

Bellingcat, 19 hours ago

OpIndia says it does not take donations but “voluntary payments” upon which the company pays taxes. But post-facto voluntary payments of an unspecified amount, legal experts say, may require the compliance of FCRA.

Bellingcat, 19 hours ago

A Delhi-based lawyer told Bellingcat that this voluntary payment model of unspecified amounts after consumption of goods (such as content) appears to be a donation rather than a sale/service transaction. He states this may require FCRA compliance.

Bellingcat, 19 hours ago

OpIndia relies on PayPal for these payments, this payment provider has previously defunded hateful platforms if they are found to be incompatible with its terms and services. PayPal told Bellingcat, “For privacy reasons, we cannot comment on specific accounts.”

Bellingcat, 19 hours ago

Another publication, the Hindu Post has been reported by fact-checking organisations to distort incidents of crime and paint false religious connotations. They have published over 1300 articles on the conspiracy theory of “love jihad”.

Bellingcat, 19 hours ago

Hindu Post was founded by Delhi-based non-profit trust Hindu Media Forum. One of the trustees of Hindu Media Forum is Swami Vigyananand, who is also the general secretary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), affiliated to the RSS.

Bellingcat, 19 hours ago

Bellingcat observed that the Hindu Post’s payment gateway links to a non-profit organisation registered in the US, the Hindu Media Foundation. Foreign donations made to the outlet are directed to this US-based entity.

Bellingcat, 19 hours ago

In the course of researching how Hindu Post receives foreign currency payment, we identified a network of links between the website and individuals associated with promoting Hindu nationalism both in India and abroad.

Bellingcat, 19 hours ago

Bellingcat is a non-profit and the ability to carry out our work is dependent on the kind support of individual donors. If you would like to support our work, you can do so here https://www.bellingcat.com/donate/

Bellingcat, 3 days ago

Earlier this year we investigated the case of an unidentified oil tanker spilling oil across beaches, coral reefs and mangroves in Trinidad and Tobago. Bellingcat and partners eventually identified the vessel as the barge “Gulfstream”. It had been pulled by a tugboat named Solo Creed before it sank. https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2024/02/14/identifying-the-mystery-vessel-at-the-site-of-trinidad-tobagos-national-emergency-oil-spill/

Bellingcat, 3 days ago

We followed the Gulfstream’s journey through satellite imagery from Panama to Venezuela before it went dark in the days before it appeared on the Trinidad and Tobago coastline leaking oil. https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2024/02/20/how-a-leaking-barge-became-an-oil-spill-disaster-off-the-tobago-coast/

Bellingcat, 3 days ago

With our publishing partners the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian, we then dug into both vessels’ ownership records to try and find who was responsible for the vessels https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2024/03/03/tobago-oil-spill-tug-solo-creed-belonged-to-panamanian-firm/

Bellingcat, 3 days ago

This month, the Solo Creed resurfaced in Angola, after having its AIS location off since February 5th. We verified and matched up satellite imagery and news reports detailing vessel in Luanda.

Bellingcat, 3 days ago

Interestingly, it appears the crew have attempted to obscure the name of the vessel by removing several letters from the side of the boat so it is now labelled simply “SC”

Bellingcat, 3 days ago

On Thursday, May 23, the government of Trinidad and Tobago requested that the Ministry of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs open communication with Angola. Months on from the spill, no owner for either vessel has claimed responsibility for the spill. https://www.energy.gov.tt/government-continuing-to-pursue-solo-creed/

Bellingcat, 5 days ago

This investigation is also currently nominated for a European Press Prize https://www.europeanpressprize.com/shortlists/year-2024/

Bellingcat, 5 days ago

Bellingcat is a non-profit and the ability to carry out our work is dependent on the kind support of individual donors. If you would like to support our work, you can do so here www.bellingcat.com/donate/