The US government-funded human rights ‘watchdog’ Freedom House, which had downgraded India from ‘Free’ to ‘Partly Free’ based on The Wire’s now retracted reports on Tek Fog, has finally responded to OpIndia saying it has updated its FreedomOnTheNet 2022 report and claimed that Tek Fog stories had no impact on India’s score.
OpIndia had written to Freedom House on its Internet Freedom in India report that cited Tek Fog stories as one of the many instances to defend downgrading India’s status from free to partly free in 2022. While the US government-funded ‘watchdog’ did not initially respond to OpIndia’s queries, it finally did on Friday, brazening its stand about showing India in a bad light instead of apologising to its people for failing to conduct due diligence and using a fraudulent story to tarnish India’s reputation globally.
Freedom House claims The Wire’s Tek Fog story did not impact its downgrading of India’s score
“In light of the Wire’s removal of its Tek Fog stories pending an internal investigation, we’ve updated the #FreedomOnTheNet 2022 India report to add additional context and clarify those stories did not impact India’s score. Internet freedom in India remains ranked “Partly Free.” The score improved in 2022 as efforts to bridge digital divides yielded results,” Freedom House said in an email response to OpIndia.
In light of the Wire’s removal of its Tek Fog stories pending an internal investigation, we’ve updated the #FreedomOnTheNet 2022 India report to add additional context and clarify those stories did not impact India’s score. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/MvXEWw6Dru
— Freedom House (@freedomhouse) November 4, 2022
“Still, misinformation in India is frequently shared online, and users face the risk of online harassment. The Wire’s 2022 Tek Fog stories did not factor into India’s #FreedomInTheWorld status change from “Free” to “Partly Free” in 2021, a full year prior. The downgrade was due to the govt’s crackdown on civil society and discrimination against Muslims,” the human rights ‘watchdog’ further added.
The updated report by Freedom House also included an Editor’s note, informing readers about the changes the organisation had to make in the light of The Wire’s withdrawal of Tek Fog stories. Besides the Editor’s note, the updated report also bears notes in places where it had originally included inferences from The Wire’s Tek Fog stories.
Following the Meta fiasco, The Wire pulls down its Tek Fog story too
Earlier last month, The Wire suffered a series of embarrassments as it had to withdraw its reports on the Meta story, in which it had claimed that BJP’s Amit Malviya enjoyed special privilege with the social media giant and had the power of getting removed from any Instagram post that was against his liking. With the independent experts and social media users pointing out the glaring holes in The Wire’s allegations against Malviya and Meta, the leftist publication was forced to retract its story and announce an “internal assessment” over what went wrong in its reportage.
Days later, The Wire pulled down its Tek Fog story as well. Incidentally, one of the writers, who co-authored its Meta story, had co-authored some reports on Tek Fog too. Suspending its reports on Tek Fog, The Wire updated the links to them with a message that reads: “This story has been removed from public view pending the outcome of an internal review by The Wire. More details here.”
In its story from January 2022, The Wire claimed the existence of a fictitious and mysterious app named ‘Tek Fog’, which it said allowed BJP to bypass all security measures available in top social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram etc, and create and delete dozens of accounts at the click of a button. They claimed BJP could hijack social media trends and target hatred towards journalists using the app. They claimed that the app can bypass email and OTP verifications required to log on to those platforms to create temporary accounts.
Similar to the Meta story, netizens had exposed the massive loopholes in the Tek Fog story too. That story also entirely relied on ‘screenshots’ of the so-called app and didn’t have any other verifiable evidence. And again, like the Meta story, the Tek Fog story was also questioned by independent tech experts who had raised red flags about the assertions made by The Wire at the time of its reportage.
Nevertheless, several international organisations, including Freedom House, Washington Post, RSF, and others, sidestepped the scepticism voiced by independent researchers and extensively covered The Wire’s Tek Fog story, using it to defame India internationally.
How Freedom House’s report on Internet freedom in India continues to rely on prejudicial reportage, fake news, lies, and disinformation
Even though Freedom House has removed references to Tek Fog in its FreedomOnTheNet 2022 report on India and claimed that the story had no bearing on the country’s score, the index still relies on misleading claims, biased reportage, and disinformation to show India in a bad light.
For instance, India’s sovereign right to block YouTube channels that spewed hatred; undermined the country’s national security, and attempted to foment civil unrest, was cast as an attempt by the Centre to block content supposedly “protected by international human rights”.
In a section on legal control over internet infrastructure for the purposes of restricting connectivity, Freedom House granted India a paltry 2 out 6 points, citing the rare network shutdowns imposed in the country, especially in the wake of protests that erupted following the passage of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), when rioters in many parts of the country had gone on a rampage, vandalising public properties and indulging in unmitigated destruction.
In order to control escalation and prevent rioters from mobilising similar violent protests, local administrations in many places across the country imposed temporary network shutdowns. However, for the Freedom House, thwarting the orgy of violence and rioting amounted to restricting freedom.
To give a perspective, the Indian Railways alone suffered damages to the tune of Rs 88 crores because of rioting and vandalism by anti-CAA protesters.
Similarly, the Freedom House’s downgrading of India’s status also relied on the fake news peddled by Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair, The Wire, and several other left-leaning websites about the assault of an elderly man in Ghaziabad.
The leftist propagandists had shared the video of the assault claiming that the Muslim man was thrashed because he had refused to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’. However, police later revealed that the victim Saifi sold amulets for a living, and the accused were miffed after the amulet sold by him proved harmful to them.
The organisation has also used legal action against individuals as grounds for lowering India’s freedom status. It cited the arrest of Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair as an instance that ‘journalists’ in India suffered prosecution at the hands of the police and state.
However, it conveniently skipped mentioning that Zubair was arrested for his disparaging posts against Hindu Gods on social media. After his Hinduphobic posts had gone viral on the internet, the Alt News co-founder promptly deactivated his Facebook account, presumably from the fear that users might dredge up more posts where he had insulted Hindu Gods and beliefs.
Zubair is also notorious for dog-whistling against former BJP leader Nupur Sharma by sharing an edited video of her statement on a Times Now debate that attracted the wrath of Islamists, who took to the streets chanting ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ threats against Sharma and led to the deaths of unsuspecting Hindus, including Kanhaiya Lal from Udaipur and Umesh Kolhe from Amravati, who dared to extend their solidarity against the beleaguered leader.
Likewise, the human rights ‘watchdog’ also highlighted corrective action against donation-fraud accused Rana Ayyub as politically motivated. The Enforcement Directorate had earlier this year accused Rana Ayyub of raising funds from the public for herself.
“Investigation by ED further revealed that Ms Rana Ayyub illegally raised Rs. 2.69 Crore by launching three online campaigns in the name of charity by cheating the general public donors. These funds were not used for the intended purpose but instead used for the creation of assets for herself. Ms Rana Ayyub has tried to project these funds as untainted and thus has laundered the funds received from the general public,” the agency said.
But the Freedom House cited the inquiry into a potential fraud carried out by Rana Ayyub as an attempt to subject individuals to extralegal intimidation or physical violence by state authorities in relation to their online activities.
The said incidents reflect a small sample of prejudicial reportage and disinformation that populate Freedom House’s report and have a bearing on India’s score. It is in no way an exhaustive list of instances where the organisation has relied on half-truths, lies, propaganda, and fake news to tarnish India’s reputation internationally.
Taken together—the unsatisfactory clarification of the Tek Fog story—and the references mentioned in Freedom House’s Free On The Net 2022 report demonstrate that the organisation is not only adamant in its negative coverage of India, but it is also remorseless of leaning on fake news and disinformation for its ratings.
