On November 14, OpIndia talked to Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devang Dave who was accused of being the alleged brain behind ‘Tek Fog’ by The Wire. Notably, ‘Tek Fog’ stories were retracted by The Wire after its stories on ‘Meta Vs The Wire‘ matter fell apart and were proven to be fake. The ‘tech expert’ Devesh Kumar had worked on Meta stories exclusively with Ayushman Kaul on Tek Fog stories. After retracting Meta stories, there was a lot of pressure on The Wire to take down Tek Fog stories which were eventually retracted by the news portal.

Devang Dave earlier demanded an apology from The Wire in a tweet. Speaking to OpIndia, Devang confirmed that a team of lawyers is working on drafting a case against The Wire. He said, “Our lawyers were already working on filing a defamation suit against The Wire. It has already proven a fake story [Tek Fog] in the public domain. However, there has been no public apology from The Wire over the matter.”

Devang said the case is not limited to an individual. He said, “It is not just a case of personal defamation. They have put a black mark on India’s journalism ethics. Using their links in the media circle, they pushed the story to media houses on domestic and international platforms, including Washington Post and others. It tainted India’s name at the international platform.”

He expressed dismay that The Wire has yet to apologise for the fake story. He said, “They not only owe me an apology but also to Bharatiya Janata Party and the people of India. Furthermore, they should apologise to all the country journalists as this case has tainted the reputation of every journalist in India. Everyone’s reputation has been put at stake.”

Devang said the lawyers are looking into different angles in the case. A critical aspect of the matter is that the fake story that the original publisher, The Wire, heavily promoted has hurt the country’s reputation. He said, “Our lawyers are also looking into how such fake stories hurt the country’s reputation, the party and journalists. They have defamed not only the country but also the entire journalism sector of the country. Our team of lawyers is working on this aspect as well. Maybe in a week, the picture will be clearer on the Sections under which the case will be filed against them.”

‘This case should become an example’: Devang Dave

He added that the case against the media house will not be limited to defamation but will include other sections such as cheating. He said, “We are not only pushing the case under Sections of defamation but also cheating and more. It should become an example that such dubious stories cannot be promoted freely without consequences.”

Devang said all those who promoted the story and even raised the matter in the parliament had not spoken a word since The Wire retracted the stories. He said, “If you remember when they ran the story, they claimed to have researched for two years. The story became a topic of discussion in the parliament as well. It was a waste of time for the parliament as well. From Derek O’Brien to Rahul Gandhi had raised questions in the house during press conferences and tweets. Their [opposition parties’] senior leaders and spokespersons, including Shashi Tharoor, raised questions about the story. Even the likes of Barkha Dutt have written on it in the past. Now all these people have to come out and speak up. The way they promoted the story, they have to apologise in the same manner.”

He added raising the matter in the parliament wasted precious time and resources. He said, “Again, it is not about an individual. In all this drama, the ethics of journalism were left behind. No one tried to verify the story before speaking about it or taking it up in the parliament. So we are working on all these aspects of how everything can be compiled and presented in the court.”

‘A black day for India’s journalism’

Devang called it a ‘black day in the history of India’s journalism. He said, “They call themselves a reputed media house. But this story became a black day of India’s journalism. They promoted blatant lies. They have defamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the party and the country.”

‘You cannot blame one individual for everything

Devang did not like the idea of blaming just Devesh for the mess. He said, “I read a few stories where they tried to blame Devesh Kumar for everything. Again, in this case, as well, it cannot be blamed on an individual. When you promote something as the ‘story of the year and claim the story was based on a two-year-long investigation, how can you blame one person for everything? What about your internal audits? Who approved the stories internally? How was the story approved? Answers to all these questions should come out.”

Furthermore, an official complaint to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is in the pipeline. He said, “An official complaint will also be submitted to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to ensure ethics are maintained in journalism.”

‘Tek Fog’ stories retracted by The Wire

In January 2022, The Wire published a series of reports claiming BJP used an underground app named Tek Fog to set a narrative on social media platforms. The media house claimed that the app had “superpowers” to takeover devices and social media accounts. They used a dubious Twitter handle as the source. Two “tech experts”, Devesh Kumar and Ayushman Kaul, claimed to have worked for two years on the stories. The reports on Tek Fog were published on domestic and international portals. The matter was raised in courts and parliament.

In October 2022, The Wire published another set of stories claiming BJP’s IT Cell Chief Amit Malviya has superpowers at Meta and he could get any post removed from Instagram. However, their claims fell flat as experts rebutted all the evidence and proved them fake. Devesh Kumar also worked on the technical aspect of the Meta stories. Later, The Wire pulled down the stories and claimed Devesh accepted fabricating documents as evidence in the case. After that, The Wire also retracted Tek Fog stories.