Leaked British files show how a youth media platform became a vehicle for covert influence in Iraq, raising questions that outlast the coalition withdrawal.

Leaked British files show how a youth media platform became a vehicle for covert influence in Iraq, raising questions that outlast the coalition withdrawal.

From thecradle.co via This RSS Feed.

  • Maeve@kbin.earth
    1·
    5 hours ago

    The leaked files put British spending on Yalla at £4.3 million in 2019/20, with another £4 million budgeted for the following year. Those sums covered its website, Instagram and YouTube accounts, and Facebook pages in Arabic, Kurdish and English.

    Far from the financial independence Yalla claims, the leaked files describe millions of pounds in British funding and detailed oversight of its output and operations. Advertising giant M&C Saatchi sits at the center of the arrangement.