Drop Site News is Under Attack From an Authoritarian Government

And several others aren't too pleased

Barely two months into Drop Site's tenure, we have made enemies of at least three governments, been banned in one country, and censored by the largest social-media platform in the world. Pakistan's military government has banned Drop Site News from being read inside the country, following a sweeping series of investigative reports that have rocked the embattled leadership. The military followed the ban with threats of further legal action and accusations from military-linked officials that Drop Site is "being funded by Jew and Indian lobbies," mixing antisemitism with anti-Indian attitudes. Instagram and Facebook, meanwhile, have periodically blocked the sharing of Drop Site's coverage of the ongoing genocide in Gaza on Meta platforms. And following an investigation into the U.S.-linked attorney general of Ecuador, allies of the right-wing government have accused Drop Site of being established and funded by the leftist party of Rafael Correa for the express purpose of undermining the government. We're just getting started, but drawing these kinds of unhinged and ferocious responses from centers of power was precisely our goal when we launched Drop Site News. There will be plenty more to come -- especially as we can now rely on our growing base of readers to fight back.

It is in Pakistan where the pushback has been the most intense, as the state's descent into authoritarianism has accelerated. In July, Drop Site News exposed the existence of a secret operation run by the Pakistani Army, called the Army Agahi Network (AAN). The program deploys thousands of military officers, operating under aliases and fake accounts, to act as trolls in online combat. By design, the program requires them to violate their constitutional oath to remain apolitical.

The primary source of the report was an individual in the Pakistani security establishment outraged by the military's design to launch the program. The leak itself also highlighted growing discontent within the armed forces against its leadership. The response from the Pakistani government to the story was fast, furious, and chaotic.

In August, Drop Site published audio of an extortion attempt by a Pakistan government official. After a half dozen men abducted a Pakistani man, the government official called the man's brother, a citizen of Australia, with an offer: Stop criticizing the government publicly, and his brother would be returned. When he initially refused, they began torturing his brother, producing screams audible on the recording. The resulting video went viral in Pakistan and in the United States, and that evening the internet slowed to a crawl in Pakistan.

Not content to ban one foreign news outlet, the Pakistani government has now moved to control the entire internet.

Pakistan's Ministry of Information Technology had previously allocated a staggering $135 million—a massive investment—to procure a national firewall and web traffic monitoring tool, reportedly with the support of China.

Shortly after Drop Site exposed the AAN program, the government hastily tested the firewall. The decision has caused widespread internet disruptions that have quite literally, breaking the Pakistani internet by slowing download and upload speeds to a crawl across service providers. Users widely reported being unable to share media on platforms such as WhatsApp, which are vital to commerce and daily life.

The economic repercussions of these disruptions are already being felt, with some estimates stating that the Pakistani economy stands to lose up to $300 million yearly as a result of the firewall. Freelancers on platforms like Fiverr have seen their accounts suspended due to "internet disruptions," while the IT sector as a whole, a small bright spot in Pakistan's otherwise struggling economy, faces a real threat that the new online censorship regime and firewall will stifle its hopes for growth.

In a press conference on August 5, the director general of the ISPR also made a legal threat against foreign news outlets covering Pakistan. “Whoever — whether in Pakistan or abroad and irrespective of their position — is found spreading propaganda against the Pakistan Army, creating a distance between the army and the people, or is found to be involved in spreading fake news, the army will take necessary legal action against it, and there is a whole process for it," he said.

This August the government also abducted Raoof Hasan, the chief spokesperson for the party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. While in custody, Hasan's phone was searched, where messages from a Drop Site reporter were found. Though the messages were no more than a typical exchange between a journalist and a spokesperson, the government shared them with Pakistani media, which spent days broadcasting claims that the texts revealed "anti-Pakistan propaganda."

The government of Ecuador and its allies seem similarly unprepared for scrutiny at the hands of investigative reporters. Last week, Drop Site, in partnership with The Intercept Brasil, published an investigation into the state's attorney general, Diana Salazar, based on a cache of text messages she sent to an Ecuadorian judge and to a former member of parliament-turned-fugitive. The story, published in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, revealed how Salazar is using her office to pursue cases with political motives, including attacks on the left-wing political party — all in alliance with the U.S. government.

The messages we reviewed also included highly sensitive information about investigations and cases pursued by the attorney general's Office and the U.S. government. The story exploded in Ecuador, being widely read and shared and sending shockwaves through the country and around South America. The messages had been a source of intrigue in Ecuador, and Drop Site's investigation was the first major international report regarding the chats and the allegations of misconduct

The story's readership also came with a wide array of wild rumors and attacks. The traditional Ecuadorian press has attempted to throw cold water on the story: pundits and supporters Salazar have published op-eds and analyses accusing Drop Site of being a Chavista or Correísta outlet. Fake images began circulating, saying that Drop Site was created by Correa supporters, with the sole goal of attacking Salazar, and lambasting us as "narco-journalists." Highly-edited and dramatic videos also circulated online, saying our reporting was part of a coordinated attack from Correa's political party, and that Correístas "financed two unknown journalists, José Olivares and Ryan Grim" to publish the story.