28 Bot Accounts Pushed Michigan Vote With 7 Million Views
Indian content creators use shadow social media pages to influence elections from Kenya to the United States.
By Carlos Rousseau ·
Researchers identified at least 28 social media accounts sharing videos that supported a US Senate candidate in Michigan.
The anonymous group Antibot4Navalny found these accounts on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. The posts garnered more than seven million views in total. A review by Al Jazeera determined that at least 15 of the identified accounts posted from India. The videos backed Haley Stevens, a Democrat, during her August 4 primary against Abdul El-Sayed. Stevens lost that race. El-Sayed is now the Democratic candidate for the upcoming midterm election in Michigan.
The operation mirrors tactics used in other nations. Rajan Kumar, a 22-year-old content creator in Ahmedabad, designed posters and edited videos for William Ruto’s 2022 presidential bid in Kenya. Kumar worked in an unfurnished flat and earned $7 a day. He created 50 social media posts for the campaign. These posts appeared on shadow accounts that hid their true identity. Kumar described the work as trimming opposing speeches to twist their meaning. He said the team linked female politicians to damaging figures to discredit them. Ruto won the 2022 election and became Kenya’s fifth president.
Political consultants in India describe their work as a wholesale market for electoral influence. Tushar Giri, a consultant in New Delhi, stated that the group is manipulating elections. He compared the industry to buying toys from China, noting that India offers the cheapest cost for global campaigns. Giri said there are no limits or red lines in these shadow campaigns. Amogh Dhar Sharma, an author of a book on Indian political consultancies, called these hidden sources of power a major ethical concern. He noted that politicians prefer to keep voter focus on public events while private firms wield real power in the background.
The work involves specific operational protocols to maintain distance. Consultants use premium virtual private networks to bypass geographic restrictions. They often change an account’s country of origin to run targeted ads. Payments frequently flow through informal systems. At least three consultants identified export-focused businesses in Old Delhi’s Chandni Chowk market as a hub for these transactions. One anonymous consultant described using an Indian banknote with a specific serial number as a code to collect millions in cash. The group relies on hawala networks to move funds across borders without conventional banking channels.
The risks for the personnel are tangible. Two Indian consultants, Zulfiqar Ahmad Khan and Mohamed Zaid Sami Kidwai, disappeared in Nairobi in July 2022 while working for Ruto’s campaign. They were found dead in October. An elite police unit allegedly abducted them. Ruto disbanded that unit after winning. In August 2026, Kenya’s High Court terminated murder charges against 15 officers after the prosecution requested the investigation be discontinued. Kumar said chats are deleted and SIM cards are destroyed frequently. He noted that content creators are never informed of the full supply chain leading to senior officials.
