UAE paid over $6 million to US firm to bury damaging report on ambassador: Report
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has paid more than $6 million to a New York-based reputation management firm to suppress a damaging report about its long-serving ambassador to the United States, a report says.
The New York Times published a report on Monday, saying Yousef al-Otaiba, the UAE’s ambassador to the US since 2008 and widely regarded as one of the most well-connected diplomats in Washington, was concerned about a 2017 article alleging ties to sex workers and human traffickers.
Starting in July 2019, records filed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) show that the UAE hired Terakeet, a reputation management firm based in Syracuse, New York, to optimize Google searches to promote tourism in the Emirates and manage Otaiba’s public image.
The controversial article, published by The Intercept under the headline “The Sordid Double Life of Washington’s Most Powerful Ambassador,” appeared among the top search results for Otaiba.
According to four former Terakeet employees cited by the NYT, an account manager even relocated to Washington for over a year to work directly with the ambassador, to avoid leaving a digital footprint of the intervention.
The stated objective, according to the report, was to ensure that any controversial associations would be overshadowed by more favorable content, preventing the damaging article from appearing prominently in online searches.
The move raises questions about transparency and influence in the US political and media landscapes.
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