ISD’s Executive Director for AMEA, Moustafa Ayad, teamed up with the BBC to look into Yala News, a UK-registered media company that appears to be spreading mirrored video versions of Russian-state media propaganda stories. The company has a strong social media presence with over three million Arabic-speaking followers, but somethings aren’t adding up like their lacklustre website and a series of Facebook reviews attempting to legitimise their operations.
“It reeks of well-coordinated behaviour,” he said. Moustafa “believes the fact that Yala News publishes so many bespoke videos every day, each following the same format, could cost tens of thousands of dollars.”