Evidence has now emerged in the media on possible Congress link to the infamous data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica. Several media persons are using several tricks in the box to defend Congress to the hilt.
At the moment there is no conclusive evidence of Congress’ involvement with Cambridge Analytica in the form of contract papers or official transactions. However, at the same time, there is no dire requirement to shield Congress from two pieces of evidence that seem to be pointing fingers at them. They are:
- Chris Wylie’s deposition before the British MPs
- Picture of a poster with Congress symbol hanging in Cambridge Analytica office.
The most innocent looking defence is that of diversion. Feeling emotional that some other issue is being ignored at the cost of Cambridge Analytica of Facebook. However, Ms Ghosh’s tweet came before the evidence linking Congress and Cambridge Analytica came to the attention of the world.
Soon after the reports of Chris Wylie’s statement came out, Rajdeep Sardesai was anguished about an accusation of ‘supari channels’ accusing Congress stole data. Why would an accusation by some channel cause distress to Rajdeep? After all, many can accuse Rajdeep of being ‘Supari journalist’ after seeing this video where he targets Modi.
A journalist found a method to rationalise the whole matter and distributed the blame between both BJP and Congress though there was no evidence of a direct link of Cambridge Analytica with BJP at the moment when he posted his Tweet.
Another journalist who has been vocal on the Cambridge Analytica issue is Shivam Vij. According to him, failure of Congress in elections is in itself a strong evidence that the Congress did not engage the tainted firm. This is indeed an insightful statement but does not count as a conclusive evidence to absolve Congress.
Another publication named ‘The Wire’ also came in to defend Congress strongly in one of their articles.
The article says (emphasis added) :
This is the harder part. On Twitter, pictures of the Congress party’s logo being present in Nix’s offices in London are currently being circulated. Wylie, on Tuesday, stated that he believed “Congress was a client” of CA.
But both of these developments aren’t hard evidence. There is also no proof at this point in time that Cambridge Analytica or SCL signed a contract with any Indian political party.
Commenting on the absence of conclusive evidence is acceptable. However, dismissing evidence that has come to light should raise eyebrows. What does ‘The Wire’ stand to gain by taking a stringent stance, while dealing with an accusation against Congress?
All these examples seem to indicate that sections of media are keenly interested in ensuring that the Congress’ alleged involvement with Cambridge Analytica is not considered seriously by the public. The government should launch an investigation in order to ascertain all facts and take the matter to its logical conclusion.