It is crucial to highlight here that at least two of the three men arrested are associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party’s IT cell in Varanasi. As per the details available on the social media profiles of the two accused, Kunal Pandey was a coordinator for the BJP IT cell’s Varanasi unit while Saksham Patel was a co-coordinator. As per a report of the Quint, an anonymous Varanasi BJP leader also provided that Pandey is the son-in-law of a local BJP councillor. As per the report of the IE, a senior office-bearer of the BJP media team for Kashi zone confirmed that Patel was a co-coordinator of the BJP IT cell, Varanasi unit, while Pandey was a coordinator for BJP IT cell Varanasi unit. The officer also provided that the two are not part of the new team that was formed after Diwali. Notably, the FIR (First Information Report) in the present case had been filed prior to the festival of Diwali.

The said incident, which had caused a massive uproar in the campus and had resulted in protests being organised demanding justice and a safer campus for women, had taken place in the beginning of November 2023. According to the complaint lodged by the victim on November 2, she was out with a friend on the IIT-BHU campus on the night of November 1 when the incident took place. The duo was near the Karman Baba temple when three men came there on a motorcycle and forcibly took her to a corner and gagged her after separating her from her friend. The three accused then stripped the victim, made a video of her and clicked photos. As per her complaint, she was let go after 15 minutes. The three accused took her phone number, the complaint stated. Based on the complaint, a FIR had been lodged. Later, on November 8, the survivor had recorded her statement before the magistrate and the police investigating officer, which resulted in charges pertaining to gang rape being added to the case.  The survivor had also alleged that the incident had been carried out at gunpoint. 

Arrest of the three accused, confession followed:

The report of the Quint provided that a Varanasi police official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, shed light on the way the three accused were identified and nabbed by the police. As per the report, the movements of the three accused were being traced with the help of an informer, which ultimately led to their arrest. It had been previously provided that the faces of the trio were unclear in the CCTV footage accessed by the police, since the incident took place in the night.

The police said the three were arrested on the night of December 30, 2023. As provided by the report of the IE, Varanasi DCP (Kashi zone) Ram Sevak Gautam provided that the three arrested accused have confessed to the crime. DCP Gautam further stated that mobile phones have been recovered from the accused as well as the motorcycle they used in the crime. It has further neem asserted by DCP Gautam that The Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986 will also be invoked by the police in this case. As per multiple media reports, the three accused were sent to judicial custody for 14 days by a local court on the evening of December 31, 2023.

Opposition, social media users slam the BJP and the silence of mainstream media

As soon as the news of the arrest surfaced and the previous posts of the accused went viral establishing their links with the current ruling BJP party, the opposition parties started slamming them. In a video, Supriya Shrinate showed the pictures of the three accused with top leaders of the BJP, namely PM Narendra Modi, Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani and President of BJP, JP Nadda. She further accused the party of protecting and promoting rapists, attacking them for keeping a calculative silence over the matter.

The video can be viewed here:

IIT BHU में दो महीने पहले एक छात्रा का गैंगरेप हुआ, जिसमें 60 दिनों तक गिरफ्तारी नहीं हुई।

जब गिरफ्तारी हुई तब तीनों आरोपी BJP के पदाधिकारी निकले।

BJP में न सिर्फ बलात्कारियों को संरक्षण मिलता है, उन्हें ऊंचे पद भी दिए जाते हैं।

: @SupriyaShrinate जीpic.twitter.com/TFPIHpyQ7c

— Congress (@INCIndia) December 31, 2023

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also took to ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) to criticise BJP, stating that the three arrested were part of a new crop of BJP workers thriving under the patronage of senior leaders. Yadav also alleged that the Uttar Pradesh government had been forced to arrest the men because of the solid evidence in the case and the growing public anger.

In his post, Yadav had written “Every woman across the country is seeing how the BJP is playing with women’s dignity and protecting those accused of atrocities, harassment and rape.”

The post can be viewed here:

ये हैं भाजपा के दिग्गज नेताओं की छत्रछाया में सरेआम पनपते और घूमते भाजपाइयों की वो नयी फसल, जिनकी ‘तथाकथित ज़ीरो टॉलरेंस सरकार’ में दिखावटी तलाश जारी थी लेकिन पुख़्ता सबूतों और जनता के बीच बढ़ते गुस्से के दबाव में भाजपा सरकार को आख़िरकार इन दुष्कर्मियों को गिरफ़्तार करना ही… pic.twitter.com/VgVJFZBPUO

— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) December 31, 2023

Indian National Congress’ Uttar Pradesh chief Ajay Rai also attacked BJP by posting on social media that “This is the evil face of BJP. Shameful.” In his post on X, Rai stated “For the BJP, ‘Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao’ is just a slogan. I had said at that time that BJP people are involved in this matter.”

The post can be viewed here:

“भाजपा के लिए ‘बेटी बचाओ-बेटी पढ़ाओ’ बस एक नारा है।

मैंने उसी समय कहा था कि इस मामले में भाजपा के लोग शामिल हैं।”

IIT-BHU की बिटिया के दोषियों की गिरफ्तारी पर प्रदेश अध्यक्ष श्री @kashikirai जी की टिप्पणी pic.twitter.com/smOj6aCRP1

— UP Congress (@INCUttarPradesh) December 31, 2023

In addition to this, Mohammed Zubair, fact-checker and co-founder of Alt News, severely criticised the main stream media from not reporting the news of the three accused arrested being linked to the ruling BJP party.

The post can be viewed here:

Hello @sudhirchaudhary @RubikaLiyaquat
@AmanChopra_ @RajatSharmaLive @AMISHDEVGAN @SushantBSinha @anjanaomkashyap @navikakumar @RShivshankar @TV9Bharatvarsh @abplive @TNNavbharat @aajtak
You ignored to do a prime time debate when the incident happened in November. You all… https://t.co/zZqQ9uL7xj pic.twitter.com/jJcNfAKTQS

— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) December 31, 2023

The post can be viewed here:

ANI’s Smita Prakash would pick up every video BJP spokesperson @Shehzad_Ind makes and shares it from their official News handle. Maybe ANI will report on IIT-BHU if Shehzad Poonawala makes a video on the accused. pic.twitter.com/FuAyNdRGVj

— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) January 1, 2024

Many other social media users have alleged that the police took a period of 60 days to arrest the accused since they were associated with the ruling party.

The post can be viewed here:

I BIG BREAKING l

IIT-BHU Sexual Assault Case

— The Police came to know about the accused within three days of the incident.
— They were not arrested for being members of BJP IT Cell.
— The arrest might not have taken place if the Magistrate had not exerted pressure.

— Will… pic.twitter.com/3NEENMTtwP

— তন্ময় l T͞anmoy l (@tanmoyofc) January 2, 2024

Related:

BHU molestation case: No arrests made, students allege a previous incident of molestation by bike-borne men, institute puts in security measures

IIT-BHU: Female student molested, abused and stripped by three bike-borne men inside campus

Dalit academic alleges assault, molestation; FIR names 2 faculty, 2 students: BHU

The post IIT-BHU gangrape: 3 accused arrested, at least 2 associated with BJP IT cell of Varanasi appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The report by the Washington Post notes that there exists a ‘parallel campaign’ beyond official social media fanfare of the BJP. This was revealed by BJP staff, campaign consultants, and party supporters during rare and in-depth interviews that the report included, which brought to light that the party maintains discreet collaborations with content creators responsible for managing what are referred to as “third-party” or “troll” pages. These content creators specialise in crafting provocative posts with the explicit aim of polarising sentiments on platforms like WhatsApp and at the same time maintaining the party’s core supporters.

Poojary therefore is no lone figure but part of a very efficient right wing ecosystem that thrives on hate and muscle power typical to the right. While Poojary has claimed that he didn’t make money from his controversial social media post, the account has certainly gotten him significant influence, despite being a “10th-grade dropout” without a regular job. In fact, his “Astra ” posts were even shared by the Karnataka chief minister, and he has also claimed to have gotten calls from top government and BJP officials.

These polarising messages have achieved their intended impact, as described by the Washington Post. He has been able to successfully influence Indians about the farcical propaganda that tries to accuse Muslims of conspiring against India and the Indian nation. For instance, this can be exemplified in the way he laid out a hand for the BJP in Karnataka. The BJP benefitted electorally especially in coastal Karnataka from this campaign by ‘Astra’, winning 11 out of 13 contested constituencies. One respondent in the Washington Post article has stated that nearing the day for voting, he received about 120 messages a day – which he said signified as a ‘reminder’ to vote right for the BJP.

The BJP is notorious for tactics like these. In 2017, Swati Khosla who worked as a ‘volunteer’ in the IT Cell, then headed by a man named Arvind Gupta, stated that the IT cell is a vast network that works with ‘volunteers’ like her, whom they can disassociate with at any circumstances. In the interview with Caravan Magazine, Khosla stated that the National Digital Operations Corporation (NDOC) orchestrated targeted campaigns using social media and instant messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Twitter. These campaigns were directed against individuals who dared to voice criticism of the Modi government or the BJP. Khosla revealed that the list of targets at the time included famous figures like Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, as well as respected journalists such as Rajdeep Sardesai and Barkha Dutt. Bollywood actor Aamir Khan had stated that ‘Our country is very tolerant, but there are certain people who spread ill-will’, to which he faced a targeted response.

Thus the former volunteer, Khosla, told the Caravan Magazine that following Aamir Khan’s comments in November 2015 regarding alleged incidents of intolerance in India, the cell had launched a concerted effort to make sure that Khan was removed from a deal with corporate giant Snapdeal. The BJP has been exposed several times for their outsourcing of hate. In 2022, for instance, social media trolls reportedly employed by BJP had accidentally revealed the background of their work, as one of them prematurely shared the entire social media ‘toolkit’ comprising tweets in both Telugu and English. The complete toolkit was 15 pages long and featured numerous tweets maligning opposition leaders and to flood Twitter with tweets using the hashtag #JPNaddainOrugallu.

Thus, similarly according to WaPo, the founder of Astra, Poojary is concerned about potential legal consequences for libel and spreading false information but however the success he has seen seems, especially as all five BJP candidates he supported on social media emerged victorious in coastal Karnataka, seems to have put everything else in the background.

This report by Washington Post further sheds light on Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram, and how Meta has time and again faced accusations of not doing enough to prevent the spread of hate news and being lenient with BJP leaders who violated its terms, possibly to safeguard business interests. Similarly, SabrangIndia reported earlier this year, after social media giant Meta released its annual report on human rights, that it was noted by activists that not enough has been done by the social media giant to curb hate that run amock there as there was no concrete plan. Just earlier this year in June, there was a report that stated Elon Musk had asserted that it was better to follow local laws. This statement came in the wake of former CEO Jack Dorsey stating that Twitter, now X, and had been threatened with calls to shut down Twitter in India and to have ‘homes raided’.

These instances serve to show that not only do social media giants face pressure from the government to bow down to their demands, they also seem to have no will to make changes to ensure violation of human rights does not take place on these platforms.

Related:

 Facebook’s plans to curb online hate during Indian elections: Too little too late?

India’s Struggle for Social Harmony: Challenges Amidst Surge in Hate Speech

Is There a Hidden Narrative Behind Slurs Hurled in Parliament?

India’s Struggle for Social Harmony: Challenges Amidst Surge in Hate Speech

The post BJP’s “parallel” IT Cell exposed by Washington Post appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Bharatiya Janata Party’s  IT Cell Head Amit Malviya has been trying to amplify ‘news’ that West Bengal’s Metiabruz constituency has registered a more than  9% increase in voters last year. Malviya also reminded his followers that this constituency was once ‘referred to as mini-Pakistan by TMC minister Firhad Hakim’. Adding that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who the BJP has been referring to as Pishi, or paternal aunt, “has been silently overseeing demographic change” in the state “to serve her political interests.”

Metiabruz constituency, famously referred to as mini-Pakistan by TMC minister Firhad Hakim, registers over 9% increase in voters in last year alone!

Pishi has been silently overseeing demographic change of West Bengal just to serve her political interests.

Is the EC watching? pic.twitter.com/oOkaIxvK1h

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) December 21, 2020

He of course is alluding that there has been an increase in Muslim vote that he alleged has been somehow done by CM Mamata Banerjee and her party the Trinamool Congress (TMC). As always the hint often extends to the BJP’s ‘concerns’ with what it has termed ‘illegal Banglaedshi immigrants.’  Now the BJP is directly accusing the TMC of a ‘ demographic change’ ahead of  the state’s Assembly elections. Soon enough BJP IT Cell Head Amit Malviya’s tweet featuring a Bangla newspaper clipping, was picked up and featured by the Right Wing blog OpIndia, which stated that  according to the newspaper clip shared by Amit Malviya, “the ‘unusual’ rise in the number of voters has led to an increase in polling booths in the Metiabruz constituency (6) and Topsia area (8) of West Bengal. The stark increase in electorates in a span of just one year has led to renewed skepticism of the current political dispensation.” 

It quoted CPIM leader Rabin Deb as saying: “The process of correcting the voter list has been the biggest conspiracy. They are not eliminating the names of those who have already died. The Communist Party wants that the Election Commission verify the death of such individuals directly, on receiving information about the same. If family members of the deceased fail to show proof, then, we need the truth of the case must be verified with the Municipality or panchayat.”

The BJP has also made another strong allegation stated the blog, “that instead of undertaking the verification themselves, the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) have outsourced it to TMC workers and supporters”. According to the report “in the Muslim-dominated Metiabruz constituency, more than 19,500 voters have increased in one year, thereby representing a rise of 9%.”  The RW blog added that “in the Lok Sabha elections, a total of 2,35, 105 people were eligible to vote in Metiabruz constituency. However, when the voter list was published, the number had gone up to 2,52,615. As per the report, the Metiabruz constituency includes ward No. 136-141 of the Kolkata municipality. It has been found that a total of 400, 450 and 900 voters on the list have expired in ward No.s 137, 138 and 141 respectively but their names feature in the voter list.”

Now the State unit of the BJP has written to the Election Commission of India (ECI), over the “sudden” increase in the number of voters. The blog, quoted from the letter itself: “From the draft electoral list that was made public on 18 November, it was noticed that there has been a sharp rise in the numbers of electors, especially in many parts that are very close to the Bangladesh border and those that are predominantly minority voters.” The BJP has also alleged that an “increase in electorates has been observed in Metiabruz constituency and Sonarpur Uttar in South 24 Parganas district in West Bengal,” adding that the list is not updated and  names of “dead voters and those who have changed their dwelling place are not struck out from the voter’s list.” It alleged that “in the past elections, it has been seen these votes have also been cast.” 

While it is not yet known if theElection commission has taken cognisance of the BJP’s complaint, the IT cell is busy sending out messages targeting Mamata Bangerjee and the state government, hoping to get noticed. 

In August 2020 alone, West Bengal reported 223 cases of rape. Women’s safety is at its lowest ever in the last 9 years with Pishi as home minister. Be it human trafficking or acid attacks, criminals have had a free run.

All that Pishi has cared for is votes and votebank! Shame. pic.twitter.com/waqdFy5aBK

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) December 22, 2020

Related

Catch 22, the BJP CAA and Shah’s Chronology in Bengal ?
Tagore & BJP can’t go together: Students protest Amit Shah’s Visit to Visva-Bharati
BJP removes Narada sting operation from YouTube channel, faces storm of criticism

The post BJP’s Amit Malviya accuses Mamata Banerjee, of changing WB demography appeared first on SabrangIndia.

A senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member not known for sugar-coating critique of  his own party has fired the salvo of the week already. Lawyer and Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy has set the cat among the pigeons and called for the party’s Information and Technology (IT) cell chief Amit Malviya to be sacked!

His tweet went viral within minutes, with thousands of engagements, from both critics and fans. Swamy has accused Malviya of running a smear campaign against him using fake tweets, and messages over Whatsapp presumably to other cell members. “The BJP IT cell has gone rogue. Some of its members are putting out fake ID tweets to make personal attacks on me,” posted Swamy,  “If my angered followers make counter personal attacks I cannot be held responsible just as BJP cannot be held responsible for the rogue IT cell of the party.”

The BJP IT cell has gone rogue. Some of its members are putting out fake ID tweets to make personal attacks on me. If my angered followers make counter personal attacks I cannot be held resonsible just as BJP cannot be held respinsible for the rogue IT cell of the party

— Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) September 7, 2020

Within minutes, his many followers responded to this, adding their own opinions on Malviya and the IT cell he runs. Many of which Swamy re-tweeted and in response to one asking him to ignore Malviya’s “attacks”, Swamy named the IT call head and called for the sacking of the IT cell as a whole it appears, “I am ignoring but BJP must sack them. One Malaviya (sic) character is running riot with filth. We are a party of maryada purushottam not of Ravan or Dushasan.” 

It may be the first time that Swamy has openly named a BJP insider and called for the dismantling of the IT cell that has been on the forefront of the party’s massive presence on Social media. However, this issue and the allegations that Swamy has made of a “hate campaign” being run against him has been brewing for a while. A follower tweeted that , even “BJP key members are surprised how @amitmalviya who claims Head of IT Cell of @BJP4India is circulating 2Decade old videos as part of disinformation campaign against Dr @Swamy39 whom @narendramodi had appointed as Head of 2014 Election Strategic Action Committee & rose to POWER!?”

BJP key members are surprised how @amitmalviya who claims Head of IT Cell of @BJP4India is circulating 2Decade old videos as part of disinformation campaign against Dr @Swamy39 whom @narendramodi had appointed as Head of 2014 Election Strategic Action Committee & rose to POWER!? pic.twitter.com/qejDLBtW6N

— meradeshmahan (@meradeshmahan9) September 6, 2020

This is in reference to some old video apparently circulating in right-wing Whatsapp groups, and in IT cell groups of some purported “rivalry” between Swamy and BJP’s most iconic leader Atal Bihari Vaypayee. A Swamy supporter, some of who  call themselves ‘Swamyarmy’ etc, shared that the video of a supposed ‘confrontation’ was being posted by “Some crooked new RW (joined after 2012) posting old videos of Swamy Vs Vajpayee & RSS asking silly Qs They should ask RSS how Swamy allowed back in Sangh Parivar. These crooks are like fraud neighbours reminding old fights when Miya & Beevi patch up & live happy lives again.”

Some crooked new RW (joined after 2012) posting old videos of Swamy Vs Vajpayee & RSS asking silly Qs They should ask RSS how Swamy allowed back in Sangh Parivar
These crooks are like fraud neighbours reminding old fights when Miya & Beevi patches up & living happy life again pic.twitter.com/AbdfDNZUed

— Sanatan Dharma (@HinduDharma1) September 6, 2020

While he is at the centre of social media attention because he called for a ‘sacking’ of a party insider, Swamy has never shied away from criticising the Narendra Modi government on many issues. On the very sensitive India-China standoff that continues along the borders, Swamy suggested that “India should call off it’s proposed meeting of our External Minister with the Chinese Foreign Minister due next week. It is fruitless since India wants China to vacate occupied Indian territory but China does not recognise it as Indian territory so will not vacate.”

India should call off it’s proposed meeting of our External Minister with the Chinese Foreign Minister due next week. It is fruitless since India wants China to vacate occupied Indian territory but China does not recognise it as Indian territory so will not vacate.

— Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) September 6, 2020

While the above was a suggestion, as a follow up he put the critique spotlight on two union ministers, stating that “Now that China has got RM Rajnath to talk and EAM Jaishankar eager to talk,the PLA will start operations in Arunachal to show the world that we are on beck and call even if they sit on our head. Same as what German Chancellor Hitler did to British PM Chamberlain and destroyed him.”

“Is Indian territory-according mutual agreed LAC- also subject to “peaceful resolution” ? The Chinese are sitting on our head in Ladakh, and we have to negotiate ? To convince the Chinese of what? That they should be good boys and go back home?,” he asked.

Last month he had “taken the government on” online when he stood in support of lakhs of students who had sought the postponing of JEE-NEET exams during the Covid-19 pandemic. He had posted that he was calling the PM’s office and making a personal plea to postpone the exams. He then followed up with tweeting this: “JEE/ NEET exams in the middle of a galloping COVID-19 infections, paralysing lockdown effects, a collapsing economy, a monsoon in bloom, Chinese Dragon gobbling our territory, & chors and murderers in Bollywood, is like Jallianwala Bagh where innocent were gunned down.”

He has always had an opinion on the movies made by the Union finance ministry, and as quoted by The Sunday Guardian Subramanian Swamy his weekly interview with NewsX commented on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman blaming the state of the economy to an “Act of God” with a “Hope she is not blaming me!” 

P Gurus, a Right leaning blog, had even termed those attacking Swamy online as “Tweetitutes”, a take on ‘presstitutes’ the term the right-wing uses to abuse journalists who are not affiliated to their ecosystem. “Tweetitutes periodically gang up to spew venom against Subramanian Swamy,” stated the blog dated August 30.

“A few IT Cell employees to jobless homemakers are also part of this dubious gang. A section of neo-Right Winger‘s (RW) periodically gangs up to spew venom against Subramanian Swamy. The narrative is always the same – Subramanian Swamy vs Atal Bihari Vajpayee (ABV) and how he brought the ABV government down. Swamy and Vajpayee were known political enemies and it led to Vajpayee blocking a sitting Jan Sangh Member of Parliament (MP) Swamy from joining the BJP when it was formed in 1980. Swamy, who remained in Janata Party was the prime mover of the collapse of the Vajpayee Government in 1999. What did Vajpayee do to Swamy when he became the Prime Minister in 1998[1]? First, he kept Swamy out of his Cabinet, and within the first few days, he ordered an Income Tax probe into Janata Party’s accounts and found nothing. RW guys never tire of saying that Swamy back-stabbed Vajpayee,” said the blog.

According to this blog, “Swamy stabbed Vajpayee from the front.” It added that, “During Vajpayee’s period, Swamy and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) also had problems with the RSS siding always with Vajpayee. Till 2003, there were problems between RSS Chief Rajju Bhaiya and Swamy. All issues were settled when K S. Sudarshan became the RSS Chief. Sudarshan and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) chief Ashok Singhal brought back Subramanian Swamy to the Sangh Parivar and used his legal acumen in many cases including saving the Ram Setu.”

According to them “paid Twitter handles who started associating with Sangh Parivar and BJP in the period 2012 to 2014 and some landed even after the BJP came to power. Some were real estate agents, brokers, stock traders, etc, who will take money and tweet. Like Presstitutes, these people are Tweetitutes. Some RW guys are now praising Republic TV’s, Arnab Goswami. These fellows have forgotten that Arnab was a total slave of Congress regime and did all Supari stories against the then BJP President Nitin Gadkari, Gujarat fake encounter stories against Modi and fake stories against Sushma Swaraj.”

While it is not sure if the BJP will actually pay heed to Swamy, it is known that the party will not want to make him any angrier than he already is. Maybe the IT cell members are the ones who may soon have to prepare for a reshuffle.
 

Related:

Massive thumbs down to latest Mann Ki baat: Sign of things to come?

Jokes are not funny in Assam, FIR against Prof for sharing one

Guilty as charged: Investigators, judge, jury and executioners of TV news ‘debates’

Death Penalty for Cow Slaughter, Swamy’s Bill in RS, Now Withdrawn

The post BJP IT cell has gone rogue: Subramanian Swamy appeared first on SabrangIndia.

“Election Commission of India literally hired the BJP IT Cell for handling their social media in Maharashtra in the run-up to the 2019 State Assembly Elections,” posted journalist-activist Saket Gokhale.

Shocking details:

Election Commission of India literally hired the BJP IT Cell for handling their social media in Maharashtra in the run-up to the 2019 State Assembly Elections.

Thread ?

— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) July 23, 2020

Gokhale, well known to social media user as an activist, then went on to share the details of how he tracked the link between the election commission’s official Mumbai voter awareness campaign and a Mumbai based digital advertising, marketing, social media agency called Social Central. Gokhale tracked the digital footprints of the agency to discover that it was owned by one Devang Dave, who is the national convener of IT & social media for BJP’s Youth Wing BJYM.

“Guess who shows up on his client list on his website,” asked Gokhale and posted all his findings on Social media. This created a sensation, and prompted a reaction from Election Commission of India spokesperson Sheyphali Sharan, who posted, “Regarding tweet of Mr Gokhale @SaketGokhale, Commission has sought detailed factual report in this matter from CEO Maharashtra with respect to alleged locale of the incidence immediately.”

Regarding tweet of Mr Gokhale @SaketGokhale, Commission has sought detailed factual report in this matter from CEO Maharashtra with respect to alleged locale of the incidence immediately.

— Sheyphali Sharan (@SpokespersonECI) July 23, 2020

As expected the CEO Maharashtra called Gokhale’s revelations “misleading and incorrect to suggest that the office of chief electoral officer has engaged any agency on political considerations.” It added that the electoral awareness campaign was “launched through an agency engaged by the information and public relations department(DGIPR), Government of Maharashtra.”

As per standard practice, electoral awareness campaign is launched through an agency engaged by the information and public relations department(DGIPR), Government of Maharashtra.

— ChiefElectoralOffice (@CEO_Maharashtra) July 24, 2020

Nevertheless the Election Commission has sought a report from Maharashtra’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) on the matter. Gokhale has put in public domain how he tracked the links between the Maharashtra CEO’s social media ads encouraging people to vote in the 2019 elections, and found that advertiser’s address was “202 Pressman House” in Vile Parle East, Mumbai. According to a report in The Hindu, the registrar of companies lists Signpost India Private Limited at this address, and another firm, named Social Central Media Solutions LLP (based at 70A, 601 Pressman House,) describes itself as “Signpost India Company” on its website, and listed the Maharashtra CEO among its clients.

Social Central’s managing director Devang Virendra Dave, was also listed as “Incharge” of “National Social Media and IT” on the website of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. The  Hindu reported that Social Central’s website carries a testimonial attributed to Shirish Mohod, deputy CEO during last year’s Assembly polls, that says, “I want to appreciate Social Central Media Solutions to all your creative inputs and effective implementation of the digital campaign which has helped us in our endeavour of reaching out to non-registered voters of our state.”

While trying to clear his stand, Devang Dave too posted a tweet that instead seems to link him to the CEO-sponsored campaign, “We do not earn our bread and butter by doing any kind of ‘Dalali’ but by Hardwork. The work assigned by Election Commission to Signpost was after following due process. There is no illegality whatsoever. Is it also forbidden for political activists to make an honest living?” he posted, adding, “ECI and the Industry has also appreciated the work done Am I Not allowed professional engagements just because I support an ideology, a certain people doesn’t agree with? Or is targeting people based on their ideological leanings the new thing to vent out frustration? (2/4)”

We do not earn our bread and butter by doing any kind of “Dalali” but by Hardwork

The work assigned by Election Commission to Signpost was after following due process.There is no illegality whatsoever.

Is it also forbidden for political activists to make an honest living? (1/4)

— Devang Dave (@DevangVDave) July 24, 2020

He went on to attack Gokhale without naming him and said, “(SIC) this are same people who were against CAA. This are same people who are against Ram Mandir. This are same people who are against Idea Of Bharat!”

Even as he constituted to share the links, Gokhale stated, “It is beyond SHOCKING that the Election Commission chose a BJP IT cell guy & his agency to handle their social media for Maharashtra elections. ECI is supposed to be monitoring social media of parties during election. Here, they *literally* worked with the ruling party.”

The Hindu reporter asked the ECI spokesman about the rules for hiring private firms, and was told that “the selection was done by the CEOs and that the Election Commission in Delhi was not involved.” The newspaper sought a reply from Baldev Singh, the current CEO, who sent a WhatsApp message stating, “It is misleading and incorrect to suggest that the office of chief electoral officer has issued any advertisement through any agency on political considerations. As per standard practice, electoral awareness campaign is launched through the information and public relations department (DGIPR), Government of Maharashtra. They, in turn, follow a laid-down procedure for selecting an appropriate agency for public awareness and not by CEO Office.”

He added, “For the specific imputation made in the tweet of Mr Saket Gokhale, an interim reply of facts has been sent to Election Commission of India. Meanwhile, some other representations on the matter have been received from some public representatives, which are also being addressed and a detailed response in this regard shall be sent to the commission soon.”

Gokhale, has called it “This was electoral fraud” adding that it is more than a political hold over  ECI’s social media, and alleged that “crucial voter data might have been transferred from ECI to the BJP.”

Every effort is being made by Modi govt to stall the investigation of the ECI & bury it.

And this is because it wasn’t just BJP handling ECI’s social media – it’s because crucial voter data might have been transferred from ECI to the BJP.

This was electoral fraud.

— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) July 25, 2020

He stated that he has more to reveal on what he has termed a “nexus between the BJP/Modi govt & the Election Commission which gets bigger & goes beyond Maharashtra.?”

This of course has made him the target of trolls affiliated with the right wing. Some allegedly even reached Gokhale’s building, chanting “jai Shree Ram’ , and allegedly threatening the family. 

URGENT:

RSS WORKERS ARE OUTSIDE MY HOUSE CHANTING JAI SHRI RAM.

THEY JUST THREATENED MY MOTHER.

Request urgent assistance @AnilDeshmukhNCP ji. @Thane_R_Police pic.twitter.com/PQZ85RpQCg

— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) July 24, 2020

Gokhale complained to the local police, and an FIR was registered and security provided.

Related: 

Full page campaign ads on election day: Poll code violation?
ECI Silent on Serious Irregularities in May 2019 Gen Election

The post ECI to probe Maharashtra electoral office hiring BJP linked firm appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The 38 year old from Nagpur was responsible for creating Wikipedia pages of all top BJP leaders and helping increase their following on Twitter. He was also a driving force behind the Maharashtra BJP’s social media war rooms. But according to this report in Mumbai Mirror, Merkhed was frustrated by groupism within the BJP IT cell and a faction that was acting to push him to the sidelines.

The timing of his departure in crucial, not only because it came less than a week before key constituencies in Maharashtra go to polls, but also because of the increase in the daily onslaught the BJP is facing on social media from not just the Congress but also local Maharashtra leaders like Raj Thackeray. It will be extremely difficult for the BJP to recover from Merkhed’s loss.

The post Body Blow for BJP as Maha Social Media Head Quits! appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Interview with Paranjoy Guha Thakurta
Interviewed by Pranjal

The spread of fake stories has become a matter of global concern, especially since a US presidential election was characterized by fake news. Post 2016, it became clear that the propaganda, yellow journalism, tabloid journalism and clickbait of yesterday are overshadowed by the fake news of today.

The post How Fake News Has Overtaken Journalism, a Treacherous Journery Worldwide: Paranjoy Guha Thakurta appeared first on SabrangIndia.

“Suspected child lifters are carrying sedatives, injections, spray, cotton and small towels. They speak Hindi, Bangla and Malyali. If you happen to see any stranger near your house immediately inform local police as he could be a member of the child lifting gang,” read a WhatsApp forward.

In May 2017, a circulating Whatsapp message warning against child kidnappers caused widespread panic in Jharkhand, leading to villagers turning violent and resulting in the lynching of seven men.

The spread of fake stories has become a matter of global concern, especially since a US presidential election was characterized by fake news. Post 2016, it became clear that the propaganda, yellow journalism, tabloid journalism and clickbait of yesterday is overshadowed by the fake news of today.

Technology has made life easy, making the world a seamless cross connection of information, with the internet almost rendering life to the ‘collective consciousness’ of humanity. The internet is also a vulnerable space, dangerous at best, much like the collective conscious of humanity.

The truth is, misinformation has existed for as long as information. From the appearance of the Monkey Man in post-millennial Delhi, to communal friction caused by playing fake audio cassettes in colonies, rabble rousers and gossip mongers have long played the Chinese Whispers of misinformation.

What makes the present era of fake news unique is the unpredictability and ungovernableness of information flowing freely across the internet.  

There are numerous ways in which fake news circulates in the country, from Twitter trolls and WhatsApp forwards to stand-alone propaganda websites.  The content takes various shades. From your phone exploding on you answering an unknown call, to nano GPS chips embedded in the new Rs 2000 note, the scope of fake news segues from the innocuously harmless to the viciously dangerous to plain banal.

Understandably, proliferation of fake news on WhatsApp networks is the highest, the messenger’s end-to-end encryption makes it impossible to trace offenders, giving somewhat of a technical immunity to those spreading unreliable content. India currently generates 200 million monthly users for WhatsApp that runs on most of India’s 300 million smartphones.

Though the nature of fake news in not just political, the nature of right-wing inspired fake news websites unabashedly spreading misinformation on the internet, is.

Sample this: Ministers and spokespersons in the Modi government have time and again used fake images to trumpet the cause of grand India under Narendra Modi. In perhaps the biggest irony-laden gaffe, Nupur Sharma, BJP Spokesperson, used an image from the Gujarat riots to raise a call for protest against the Basirhat killing. Another BJP member from Haryana had earlier used a fake image from a Bhojpuri film in the urgency to call people to protest against Mamta Banerjee’s government. On July 8, a little over 250 individuals had gathered at Jantar Mantar, Delhi to protest this call.

In June 2017, the Home Ministry embarrassed the government with a photo captioned in its annual report as “floodlighting along the border” that turned out to be from the Spain-Morocco border. 

In 2015, the Press Information Bureau tweeted a photoshopped image of Modi visiting flood-hit areas of Chennai. Twitter, of course, had a field day. 

From time to time, BJP politicians like Meenakshi Lekhi, Nirmala Sitharaman and Sambit Patra have also fallen for fake news shared by right-wing propaganda machinery.

Though, to say that only the BJP or its supporters have used fake news as a tool to swing votes and influence the social fabric will be erroneous. Just before the Punjab elections, an over-confident AAP did not shy from using social media to propagate bits of fake information. 

The crucial difference though, is the polarizing and blatantly communal nature of fake news spread by the right. While different political parties have served lopsided information to influence the swing of votes and control narrative, the larger vicious impact of unverified communal content spread by right wing propagandists on the internet, is adding fuel to the already fired up landscape from north to south.

However, it would be wrong to assess this phenomenon in a singular, stand-alone light. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological father of the BJP and the genesis of right-wing propaganda in India, has been involved in publishing ideological magazines and newspapers for a long time.  From their English mouthpiece ‘Organizer’ that started publishing in 1947, to the Hindi face,’ Panchjanya’ (1948), the Sangh’s tryst with influencing society at the deepest level and building a counter-narrative goes back a long way.

Right before the monumental 2014 elections, the stage of propaganda shifted to the World Wide Web, just as the Sangh and the party woke up to an unprecedented vocal presence of supporters on the internet. Christened as ‘bhakts’, these supporters took the form of individual trolls, Whatsapp group admins and later, ran collective organized efforts in the form of websites like Niti Central. The government has, since then, honoured and honed these individuals in a variety of ways. In 2015, as they launched ‘Digital India’, the internet-friendly Modi Government smelt advantage in patronizing 150 of these individuals — some of whom are loud, abusive trolls – in an official ceremony where the PM openly met with and advised these social media “influencers”.
The propaganda though, is now mainstreamed. At this time, the party (BJP) is a movement (Hindutva) and the mass follower, knowingly or unknowingly, is rubbing shoulders with the party worker in spreading propaganda.

But to those who are not ideologically predisposed to do so, what is the lure of fake news? The answer is twofold. There is big money to be made from sites that generate enough curious clicks and host web advertising, leading to huge financial rewards. This holds true for individuals and groups running right wing websites and serial fake news offenders like Hindutva.com, Postcard News and Dainik Bharat, among many others. The right wing propaganda website Hindutva.com generates more traffic than Siddharth Vardarajan’s thewire.in, claims an Alt News expose.

The other reason is inspirational, after Narendra Modi’s ascension to the Delhi seat, a current of nationalistic pride and religious majoritarianism is mainstreaming itself. Most of the unverified content on WhatsApp is shared and run by “inspired” individuals who have taken up a good-samaritan cause for the “betterment of society”.

The concept of ‘confirmation bias’ has been discussed widely in post-truth America. The present political context in India merits its own scrutiny of the confirmation bias syndrome. Fake news is generated on right wing propaganda websites, profilerated through Whatsapp and given a screeching confirmation through trolls and right wing supporters, even Ministers of the Modi government on Twitter and Facebook, thus forming a dense echo chamber in the free internet space. More often than once, fake news has been picked up by the mainstream media. Giants of mainstream media, like Times Now , Republic TV and Zee News have spread fake news, thus bridging the gap between biased reporting and complete fabrication of news.

When this noise spills out into the world, the ramifications are exceedingly painful. Videos of the May 18 mob attacks spread across social media that lead to crowds of up to 500 attacking passersby. It must be noted that not a single case of child abduction was reported in that part of Jharkhand. “The mobs have intentionally killed these men,” Animesh Naithany, Jharkhand deputy superintendent of police, told the New York Times.

As every narrative births counter-narrative, the emergence of fake-news watchers and debunkers in India in the form of Alt News, SM Hoax Slayer and other is providing the necessary antidote in the system.

In a series of articles, we will offer an in-depth exploration of the fake news machinery in India – dissecting it to pieces, exploring narratives from the left, right and centre. Watch this space for our following interviews and articles.

Courtesy: Newsclick
 

The post Fake News is Internet’s Biggest Problem: Read About It appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will pay the trio – Navrang SB, Ravi Ranjan and Shishir Tripathi – a monthly salary of Rs 70,000 each.

Navrang was in-charge of the BJP IT Cell during 2014 Lok Sabha elections. At that time he was based in Lucknow and handling BJP’s Internet TV channel Yuva TV accounts.

He has also been the part of BJP’s office modernisation committee.

Notably, the ministry already has a full fledged team to project its work in social media. The MHA’s existing social media team includes officials from Press Information Bureau (PIB) and members of the personal team of Rajnath Singh.

Meanwhile, the MHA has said Mr Navrang was not part of BJP IT cell, and he was associated with a private firm engaged by the BJP in Uttar Pradesh during the elections.

But contrary to the MHA’s claim, Narang’s LinkedIn profile says he has been a BJP volunteer since 2003, Member Mission 272 since 2010 and part of Yuva TV.

Courtesy: Janta Ka Reporter

The post Home Ministry appoints BJP workers to handle its social media accounts appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Troll-in-chief to deliver a
keynote address on ‘Digital
and Financial Literacy’!

JNU Vice- JNU Vice-Chancellor cordially invites JNU teachers, staff a Chancellor cordially invites JNU teachers, staff and students to attend a keynote address by Dr. Arvind Gupta, whose social media team on Twitter cordially abuses and threatens women with rape threats and graphic abuse!

Who is Arvind Gupta? 
Arvind Gutpa is the Head of the Social Media Team of BJP. He was in charge of the social media campaign of Narendra Modi before and during the 2014 General Elections. Yes, the BJP’s vitriolic “social media campaign team”, which is basically an army of paid trolls, abusive,

hateful, not afraid of being prosecuted, often followed by the official Twitter handle of Narendra Modi and loaded with a diverse vocabulary of rape threats against women, anti-Muslim hatred, organised abuse and trolling of political opponents.

Who controls the online troll army of BJP? Who controls the online troll army of BJP?

Arvind Gupta has led the social media campaigns of the BJP’s IT Cell for several years now. Shortly after Narendra Modi’s projection as Prime Minister began, women journalists and activists started to get unimaginable online abuse, if they wrote about Narendra Modi, or Gujarat Riots. Journalist Sagarika Ghose was among the first to flag this issue, first in a tweet

in 2010 that said: “Internet Hindus are like swarms of bees. they come swarming after you at any mention of Modi Muslims or Pakistan!”, and then in a 2012 article titled “Netiquette, Not

Censorship” in which she flagged the alarming trend of growing right-wing hatespeak on the Internet. She reproduced the daily dose of abuses that she received on the Internet: “Bitch, you deserve to be stripped and raped publicly.” “Randi ki aulad maadar…. why u r not covering assam riots, mulloh ne ma ch..i hai kya behan….. Dalli saali Rahul ki.” Ghose wrote: “For them, “whore”, “bitch”, “Congress pimp”, “Muslim-loving whore”, “Congress-funded media” are all in a day’s work.” This was followed by a research study by the Internet Democracy Project in which the majority of women respondents said that they received abuse at the very mention of ‘Modi’ in a negative sense or ‘Gujarat riots’, etc.

Most recently, in the book ‘I am a Troll’, journalist Swati Chaturvedi has showed, through interviews with people who have formerly worked with the BJP social media team, how the BJP BJP ordered the online abuse of women. More specifically, Sadhavi Khosla, the BJP volunteer who left the BJP social media team after being put off by its organised campaigns against Muslim actors, said that she received instructions from Arvind Gupta for engaging in a relentless campaign against Aamir Khan for his stances against rising intolerance in the country! Khosla further explained how instructions for running organised campaigns are distributed to volunteers via Whatsapp groups, emails, etc. to engage in targeted hounding of political opponents.

How the BJP endorses abuse of women online? How the BJP endorses abuse of women online? the BJP endorses abuse of women online?

Not once in all these years has BJP, or Arvind Gupta or Narendra Modi condemned such organised abuse and hatemongering. The BJP has been called out several times for running these rackets of abusive trolls. That the BJP orders the targeted online abuse of opponents has been an open secret for several years. Narendra Modi’s official Twitter handle, @narendramodi has been known to follow several such abusive Twitter accounts! Many a time, to set the trolls into action, a “ringleader” such as Chandan Mitra or Ashoke Pandit (both prominent faces of BJP in the online world), starts the attack in a malicious way, and this is followed by rape threats, graphic abuse and vehement trolling by the “troll armies.” Quite often, prominent pro-Modi ringleaders such as Alok Nath, Abhijeet (the singer), etc. themselves engage in abuse, unafraid of consequences because they enjoy the ruling party’s backing. When a JNU student, Sheeba Aslam Fehmi, complained about such abuse to the police, not only was her FIR quashed, but the court directed the police to file a counter FIR against her, for voicing her opinions against communalism! It is clear that the organised social media trolls enjoy impunity extended to them by the state structures. Only now has it become official, after the statements of a former BJP IT Cell volunteer in Swati Chaturvedi’s book, “I am a Troll.”

All this should not be surprising, since a party that relies on communal riots, organised high-level crime, hooliganism and hatemongering shouldn’t be expected to behave any different on an online platform. However, what is indeed surprising is the red carpet welcome extended to the troll-in-chief, Arvind Gupta, by the JNU Vice-Chancellor. What will the troll-sardar tell us about financial literacy and digital access? Why invite him to deliver a keynote address to a person who organises online abuse of women? What does it mean to extend official courtesies to a person who is holding neither an academic position, nor a Constitutional position, but who simply heads the IT Cell of BJP’s social media team?

It is absolutely appalling how the JNU VC, while kicking out its own students who demand to meet him, is busy extending hospitality to the social media head of BJP, with absolute disregard to what this means for gender justice!

JNUSU demandsthat the keynote address that the keynote address that the keynote address should be called off, keeping in view the should be called off, keeping in view the shady affiliations and actions of the shady affiliations and actions of the person who is supposed to deliver the keynote address.

Courtesy: India Resists
 

The post JNU VC invites BJP’s IT-cell chief to lecture on Digital Literacy: Students Union protests appeared first on SabrangIndia.