After two years of investigation, The Wire, with the help of sources, revealed TechFog, a confidential app that was used by people affiliated with the ruling party to artificially increase the party’s popularity, harass its critics and create huge fanfare on major social media platforms. The scale is used to divert public perceptions.
Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien. (Photo: PTI)
New Delhi: Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien wrote to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs on Thursday to discuss an intelligence app called Tech Fog.
He said in this letter that this matter could have serious implications and it could hamper national security.
After two years of investigation, The Wire, with the help of some sources, unearthed Tech Fog, a confidential app that has been used by politicians affiliated with the ruling party to artificially boost the party’s popularity, harass its critics and spread across all major social media platforms. The platform is largely used to divert public perceptions.
In this letter, O’Brien said, these apps are capable of hijacking encrypted messaging platforms to manipulate the narrative on social media platforms.
O’Brien, a member of this committee, said that the use of manipulative technology like tech fog poses a serious threat to the security of the nation and citizens and is a violation of fundamental rights to privacy and freedom of expression.
“It amounts to exploitation of public discourse and is dangerous to the democracy and security of the country,” the letter said.
Broadly speaking, the app can hijack Twitter hashtags, control inactive WhatsApp accounts, and harass journalists criticizing the BJP online.
According to the investigation, there are four dangerous features of the social media rigging app.
1. Build Public Narratives – Auto retweet or auto share and spam hashtags with the help of the app’s in-built automation features.
2. Phishing of dormant WhatsApp accounts- Private operators can send messages to contacts or all numbers frequently by hijacking inactive WhatsApp accounts of common citizens and using their phone numbers.
3. Use of Public Database for Planned Harassment – Screenshots from the app reveal an expansive and ever-changing cloud database of ordinary citizens, defined by their profession, religion, language, age, gender, political orientation and even They are classified on the basis of their physical characteristics.
4. Power to erase every evidence- The most dangerous feature of the app is that it leaves no trace of its own. App operators can delete or replace all existing accounts at a moment’s notice. That is, they can destroy all the activities of their past, which can prove their guilt.
You can read The Wire’s full investigation ,, English, Urdu and Marathi.
(Click here to read this letter in full.)
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