ISLAMABAD (Kashmir English): An X account BRICS News, which mimics an official BRICS social media handle but pushes a narrative in a subtle manner that doesn’t align with China, Russia, or BRICS itself.
BRICS is an intergovernmental organization comprising ten countries: Brazil, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates.
The handle, though in its bio has declared itself as not an official government account or of BRICS, however, to casual social media users it impersonates as an official handle affiliated with BRICS, thereby undermining the repute of a renowned forum of BRICS meriting immediate attention.
Detailed OSINT of the handle reveals that the account is affiliated with a cryptocurrency-based X account, WatcherGuru.
Watcher Guru is a forum that focuses on real-time news about cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, Ethereum, DeFi, blockchain, finance, and related topics and has a presence across all social media platforms, the report said.
Watcher Guru founder and team members are from India or of Indian origin, which further confirms the dubious nature of the account.
During the recent US-Iran conflict, the handle continuously posted misleading/speculative news, especially using the names of China and Russia, undermining the peace process and creating an environment to pit both neutral countries against the US.
Experts have urged China, Russia, Brazil, and the BRICS secretariat to take note of this handle impersonating a BRICS official handle and ask X to permanently suspend this handle.
