In response to allegations that Mohammad Zubair, the co-founder of Alt News, collected donations in his personal account and that the organisation illegally accepted funds from nations like Pakistan, the fact-checking website declared on Monday that the allegations are “categorically false” and described them as “an attempt to shut down the critical work that we do.”
Alt News took to Twitter to say, “Multiple allegations have been cast upon Alt News and its parent organisation Pravda Media Foundation in the last few days. The allegations claim that we have received funds from foreign sources from whom we cannot receive donations. These allegations are categorically false.”
Our statement regarding the recent allegations: pic.twitter.com/XwfpE7egcJ
— Alt News (@AltNews) July 4, 2022
Zubair was previously accused of accepting lakhs of rupees by the police and by unwarranted reports in various news media outlets. Zubair was arrested last month over a four-year-old Twitter post, but he is now facing additional charges including evidence destruction and violating the Foreign Contribution Act.
The organisation also explained that its account has been stopped by the payment processing firm, despite some social media posts suggesting that the deactivation of the Alt News Razorpay account was a result of the organization’s attempt to conceal its financial activities. We will let our readers and supporters know when we have made the switch from our current donation system to a new platform.
“We are in the process of shifting our donation system to a new platform, and will inform our readers and supporters when we have made the shift,” they said.
