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Tek Fog
Tek Fog is a non-existent application that was the center of a 2022 social media disinformation hoax wherein the news outlet The Wire accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of using the application "to manipulate social media," based on evidence that was later proven to be fabricated. It also claimed that BJP's Amit Malviya had powers to remove social media posts on command.
The story went viral in India and drew reactions from opposition politicians, as well as international media houses.
One of the two authors of the Tek Fog report was Devesh Kumar. After allegations emerged that Kumar had fabricated evidence in later news stories about Meta Platforms, Inc., The Wire fired Kumar, alleged that he had intended to discredit the outlet, and filed a police report. The Wire issued a formal apology to its readers and took down the Meta and Tek Fog reports.
Alerted by a supposed disgruntled employee-turned-whistleblower, the Indian news publication The Wire reportedly conducted a two-year investigation and published its findings in January 2022. This report claimed that the Tek Fog application was used "to artificially inflate the popularity of the Bharatiya Janata Party, harass its critics and manipulate public perceptions at scale across major social media platforms" and to "amplify right-wing propaganda".
The Wire investigation also claimed that the BJP, along with the private companies Persistent Systems and Mohalla Tech (which operates a service called ShareChat), were involved in deploying the app. The members of BJP's youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), were said to have supervised the operators, giving them ideological directions. The investigation also claimed that an unnamed internal source within Persistent Systems found 17,000 files connected to Tek Fog which were developed by Persistent Systems.
In January 2022, Devang Dave, head of the BJYM IT Cell, denied that he or anyone from his organisation knew about such an app. Persistent Systems and Mohalla Tech denied any involvement with each other or with Tek Fog. The BJP youth wing functionary Devang Dave, who was claimed to have supervised the operation, denied the party's involvement.
On 23 October 2022, The Wire removed its Tek Fog investigation from its website, "pending the outcome of an internal review". The Wire has accused one of the story's authors of "deception" in a separate series of articles on Meta.
The Wire's report described the app as being capable of several actions. These capabilities purportedly included being able to hijack the '"trending"' section of social media sites, Twitter and Facebook, bulk-hacking of inactive WhatsApp accounts, among other functionalities.
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Tek Fog
Tek Fog is a non-existent application that was the center of a 2022 social media disinformation hoax wherein the news outlet The Wire accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of using the application "to manipulate social media," based on evidence that was later proven to be fabricated. It also claimed that BJP's Amit Malviya had powers to remove social media posts on command.
The story went viral in India and drew reactions from opposition politicians, as well as international media houses.
One of the two authors of the Tek Fog report was Devesh Kumar. After allegations emerged that Kumar had fabricated evidence in later news stories about Meta Platforms, Inc., The Wire fired Kumar, alleged that he had intended to discredit the outlet, and filed a police report. The Wire issued a formal apology to its readers and took down the Meta and Tek Fog reports.
Alerted by a supposed disgruntled employee-turned-whistleblower, the Indian news publication The Wire reportedly conducted a two-year investigation and published its findings in January 2022. This report claimed that the Tek Fog application was used "to artificially inflate the popularity of the Bharatiya Janata Party, harass its critics and manipulate public perceptions at scale across major social media platforms" and to "amplify right-wing propaganda".
The Wire investigation also claimed that the BJP, along with the private companies Persistent Systems and Mohalla Tech (which operates a service called ShareChat), were involved in deploying the app. The members of BJP's youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), were said to have supervised the operators, giving them ideological directions. The investigation also claimed that an unnamed internal source within Persistent Systems found 17,000 files connected to Tek Fog which were developed by Persistent Systems.
In January 2022, Devang Dave, head of the BJYM IT Cell, denied that he or anyone from his organisation knew about such an app. Persistent Systems and Mohalla Tech denied any involvement with each other or with Tek Fog. The BJP youth wing functionary Devang Dave, who was claimed to have supervised the operation, denied the party's involvement.
On 23 October 2022, The Wire removed its Tek Fog investigation from its website, "pending the outcome of an internal review". The Wire has accused one of the story's authors of "deception" in a separate series of articles on Meta.
The Wire's report described the app as being capable of several actions. These capabilities purportedly included being able to hijack the '"trending"' section of social media sites, Twitter and Facebook, bulk-hacking of inactive WhatsApp accounts, among other functionalities.