Congress leader Anand Sharma headed Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) on Home Affairs, has written to the Union Home Secretary to provide information on the Tek Fog app. The said app is allegedly used to manipulate social media trends.
Confirming that Sharma has written to the Home Secretary, a source on Wednesday said that the head of the parliamentary panel on Home Affairs asked the Home Ministry to coordinate with other concerned Ministries and submit a response to the panel by January 20.
The panel, thereafter, plans to take up the issue for discussion, the source cited above said.
A report by The Wire on January 6 had alleged that people associated with the BJP’s IT cell were purportedly using the Tek Fog app to take control of inactive WhatsApp accounts, send messages to frequently contacted numbers, and “hijack” trending topics on social media platforms like Twitter.
The Congress leader’s move comes after the Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader in the Rajya Sabha, Derek O’Brien, citing the same report in The Wire, demanded a meeting of the parliamentary panel on Home Affairs and thereafter wrote to Sharma.
In his letter to Sharma, the TMC leader wrote, “The existence and usage of manipulative technologies like Tek Fog is a severe danger to national and citizens’ security, a violation of our Fundamental Rights to Privacy and Free Speech, an exploitation of public discourse, and a defilement of the country’s democracy and security.”
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury too is said to have written to the Congress leader to ask for a meeting on Tek Fog.
“I wish to draw your kind attention to a matter of serious concern raised by Shri Derek O’ Brien, M.P./Rajya Sabha regarding Violative Software Application “Tek Fog”. I request that this matter may be taken up for discussion in the next meeting of the Department related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs,” Chowdhury’s letter, dated January 12, says.
The Editors Guild of India had also issued a statement in which it urged the Supreme Court to take note and order a probe.
