On Tek Fog, Centre’s reply in Parliament

New Delhi, Feb 05: The government has taken note of news reports about alleged app 'Tek Fog' purportedly used to manipulate social media platforms, and the IT ministry has tried to locate it on prominent app stores but could not find it, Parliament was informed on Friday.

The ministry is not aware of any technical vulnerability that makes social media intermediaries susceptible to manipulation as mentioned in those news reports, Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

He was responding to a question on whether the government intends to investigate the role of Tek Fog app in spreading misinformation during the anti Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests, Delhi communal violence and COVID-19 pandemic.

"The government has noted the news articles about the alleged app, namely, 'Tek Fog' that has been used to manipulate social media platforms," Mr Chandrasekhar said.

He added: "This ministry has tried to locate the app on prominent app stores and APK stores and could not find the app in any of these online stores." He asserted that the government is committed to open, safe and accountable internet for users, and is aware of the risk and danger posed by growing phenomena of dissemination of wrong and hateful information through some social media platforms.

The government has taken a number of steps to tackle the challenges of user harms and hateful content on social media platforms, he said. He cited the new IT intermediary rules and other measures that have been taken to address issues.

"This ministry does not track and monitor apps or content appearing on social media platforms," the minister said.

(PTI)