AI News, Fake Editors, Paid Ads: A UAE-Sudan Propaganda Network

A network of four ostensibly independent news outlets used AI-generated content and coordinated paid advertising to push selective narratives about Sudan while avoiding criticism of the UAE and the Rapid Support Forces, according to an investigation by researcher Marc Owen Jones.

Jones traced The Levantine, Global Reporters, Frontline Radar and Diplomatic Post to shared advertising and technical infrastructure after encountering a sponsored LinkedIn post from The Levantine.

The sites presented themselves as conventional news organizations, with editorial teams, social media accounts and contributions from real journalists.

However, their paid promotion was far more politically concentrated than their broader editorial output.

Four Brands, One Network

LinkedIn’s advertising archive showed that ads for all four sites were paid for by BM Web Solutions Limited.

Jones said further links emerged through Google Tag Manager data, website code and overlapping editorial identities.

Most of the sites were established around May 2026, began publishing shortly afterward and started advertising in July.

Several names also appeared across supposedly separate mastheads, while some editorial identities appeared synthetic.

The Levantine, for example, listed writers named Clara Quill, Julian Page and Beatrix Binder.

Real contributors were mixed into the network. They included Erik D’Amato, Joseph Hammond and Lieven Taillie.

D’Amato, an elected councilor in Montclair, New Jersey, confirmed to Jones that he had been approached to write for The Levantine.

AI-Driven Publishing

Jones recovered 3,606 articles published across the network.

He found multiple signs of extensive AI use. Some source links retained ChatGPT tracking tags, while three sites published the same unfinished privacy-policy template, including the placeholder: “Company Name: [Insert Company Name].”

A sample of 10 articles from each site was also tested with GPTZero.

Three sites returned 100% AI-written scores, while Global Reporters scored 91%.

The websites themselves covered a broad range of subjects, including Iran, Ukraine, China, U.S. politics, European security and the Middle East.

The paid advertising told a different story.

Sudan Dominates Paid Promotion

Jones analyzed 558 advertisements across Meta and LinkedIn and compared them with the sites’ wider editorial output.

Sudan was the most heavily promoted geographic subject, followed by Saudi Arabia and the EU.

Compared with their prevalence in the 3,606 recovered articles, paid promotion over-represented Islamists and the Muslim Brotherhood by 5.86 times, Sudan by 4.65 times, the Sudanese Armed Forces and Abdel Fattah al-Burhan by 4.59 times, and Saudi Arabia by 3.15 times.

The result was a sharp divide between what the network published and what it paid audiences to see.

Jones said heavily amplified political subjects were generally framed negatively, particularly the SAF, Islamists and states portrayed as closer to the SAF, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Türkiye and Iran.

The UAE was the conspicuous exception.

Across the 558 ads, Jones found no paid creative critical of the UAE. Four were favorable.

He also found no advertising creative attacking the RSF.

The RSF was under-represented in paid promotion compared with the SAF, despite both appearing at similar levels in the wider editorial corpus.

Targeting European Policy Centers

The network’s advertising also focused heavily on Europe and parts of the Middle East and North Africa.

France, Germany, Belgium and the U.K. received significant targeting.

Where city-level data was available, ads were directed at locations including Brussels, Strasbourg, Frankfurt, Berlin and Paris.

Jones argued that the concentration on major European political and institutional centers was notable given the emphasis on Sudan.

“Nobody really sells clicks targeting Strasbourg, except somebody trying to reach people who can influence European Sudan policy,” he wrote.

Who Is Behind It?

Jones traced BM Web Solutions Limited through contact details embedded in the websites.

Hong Kong corporate records showed the company was established in April 2026 by Martin Mitushev and Borche Ivanovski, both holders of North Macedonian passports.

A separate technical trail linked a Global Reporters account called “AI Admin” to North Macedonian WordPress developer Dime Levov.

Jones said he found evidence connecting Levov to the sites’ technical infrastructure but no proof establishing who commissioned the operation.

“I have not found evidence showing who hired whom,” he wrote.

The investigation therefore points to a centrally coordinated network using AI-heavy publishing, synthetic editorial identities and targeted political advertising to shape perceptions of Sudan.

Its paid messaging strongly favored narratives critical of the SAF and aligned actors while avoiding criticism of the UAE and RSF.

The identity of the ultimate customer behind the campaign remains unknown.