TMC MP Derek O'Brien Writes To Parlimentary Chairman Wanting To Discuss 'Tek Fog' App

TMC MP Derek O'Brien wrote a letter to the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee drawing attention to the app 'Tek Fog' calling it a 'severe danger to national and citizens' security'.

New Delhi: Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien on Thursday wrote to Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home, for discussion concerning app 'Tek Fog' saying "usage of manipulative technologies is a severe danger to national and citizens' security", reported ANI.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home is headed by Congress MP Anand Sharma.

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The TMC leader-writer after an article by The Wire reported about a series of tweets that mentioned 'Tek Fog'. The article reported that the 'Tek Fog' app could hijack Twitter's 'trending' section with targeted hashtags, create and manage multiple WhatsApp groups affiliated to the BJP and direct the online harassment of journalists critical of the BJP.

The report cited sources stating that Devang Dave, ex-national social media and IT head, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (the youth-wing of the BJP) and current election manager for the party in Maharashtra failed to deliver on a lucrative job offer promised in 2018 if the BJP was able to retain power in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The app could take over inactive users of different apps such as Whatsapp to use their numbers and contacts. The app can use a cloud database of private citizens, categorised under various attributes like occupation, age, gender, and political inclination, to 'auto-reply' to individuals or groups. This can be done through a process of connecting a Google Sheet or by auto-generating keywords and phrases, a vast majority of which are abusive or derogatory, reported The Wire.

The TMC MP said that '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, exploitation of public discourse, and a defilement of the country's democracy and security'.

"It is imperative that this matter be taken cognizance of, by the members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs which deals with matters of national security. I, therefore, request you to take up this matter for discussion in the forthcoming meeting of the Committee," he said in the letter.