Editorial: Foggy democracy

The detailed 24-month investigation by a media house into an app called Tek Fog, has laid bare yet another insidious operation used by India’s political machinery to create online trends, manufacture hate and automate trolling on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. The unearthing of this new digital ‘weapon of mass destruction’ should be enough to bring us out of our collective stupor that social media platforms are happy zones for those who want to keep in touch, or share their thoughts, views and photographs.

For those who are still waking up to Tek Fog, the app is said to work through social media. Using sophisticated algorithms, operators can deftly sift through the user database and categorise them based on attributes like occupation, age, gender, and political inclination. Attacks come in the form of derogatory keywords and phrases, and the main targets of Tek Fog once again have been journalists who speak out against the government as well as members of the Opposition. The app can also take over dormant, private WhatsApp accounts of citizens, giving it access to their personal details as well as allowing the operator of the app access to the individual’s user groups.

As per the whistle-blower in the investigation, groups affiliated to the BJP employ outfits and a number of apps to run these operations, of which a key task includes dominating Twitter trends. Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien has been one of the first to demand action, terming the Tek Fog app as a ‘defilement of the country’s democracy and security’, and has urged the Parliamentary Standing Committee of Home Affairs to take up the case. There is no doubt that Tek Fog once again brings to fore a number of very serious issues including the breach of privacy of individuals, manoeuvring of popular opinion and the extent to which political parties can manipulate free speech that is central to a healthy democracy. It will be interesting to see how the Centre wriggles out of this situation, especially after the recent Pegasus controversy where details emerged in the media about the alleged illegal use of the spyware, developed and sold by Israel’s NSO Group. Then too, findings revealed that mobile phones around the world – used by politicians, journalists, representative of NGOs and others – were targeted for tapping. The Supreme Court’s decision to constitute a committee to independently probe the allegations of unauthorised surveillance by Pegasus was a reassuring move.

Most people who are active on social media would have spotted a pattern in trending hashtags and attacks a long time ago. But what needs to be questioned is why there are no safeguards against the misuse of these privately-held operating platforms. Are we to believe that the same minds that have developed these highly sophisticated social media apps and platforms that can virtually peer into their users’ souls are completely unaware that their platforms are being hijacked and manipulated? This is something that needs to be questioned, especially in the face of damning evidence that the companies who have links to these apps are funded by the same social media platforms that are being manipulated.

It’s time for us to wake up to the extent to which we have allowed the reins of our democracy to be handed over to the private players who run these platforms. If the day’s news depends on Twitter trends and a hashtag can orchestrate the narrative of national issues, then maybe we deserve to be played. So for all those who are crying out against the subversion of public discourse in the world’s largest democracy on the very same social media platforms - well, this could just be the greatest irony of the entire situation.