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One high-profile case of misleading or false reporting in recent years involves *The Wire* (India) and its investigations into what were called the *Tek Fog* app stories and related *Meta vs The Wire* reports. This case highlights many issues of media ethics, self regulation, and the challenges of journalism in the digital age. I will analyse what happened, how *The Wire* responded, whether its self-regulation was effective, and what lessons emerge. --- What happened * In early 2022 *The Wire* published a series of investigative reports claiming the existence of an app called *Tek Fog*. The allegations were that this app was being used by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s IT cell to manipulate social media trends, harass critics, especially female journalists, hijack WhatsApp accounts, bypass security measures on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, etc. These were serious accusations involving digital manipulation, political bias, and misuse of technology. ([Wikipedia][1]) * Alongside Tek Fog, *The Wire* also published pieces in their *Meta vs The Wire* series, which claimed that the head of the BJP’s social media cell, Amit Malviya, had special privileges via an Instagram/Meta programme (e.g. “XCheck”) that allowed posts he reported to be removed without review, or that he could bypass content moderation in certain ways. ([Scroll.in][2]) * A number of organisations named in the reports—companies like Persistent Systems, Mohalla Tech (owner of ShareChat), and individuals—denied the claims. Questions were raised about the sources, the evidence (which often appeared to be screenshots, unnamed sources), and whether proper verification had taken place. ([The Times of India][3]) * Over time, scrutiny mounted. Experts flagged discrepancies, Meta/Instagram’s communications director publicly denied or contested many of the claims. ShareChat asked *The Wire* to remove the article linking it to Tek Fog. ([Scroll.in][2]) --- Response from the media organization * *The Wire* eventually retracted the relevant articles. Specifically, the Tek Fog reports and the *Meta vs The Wire* ______ ________ ___ _________ ________ __________ __________ _____ _________ ________ __________ ____.
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