Discussion

• @jahnavi_sen Jahnavi Sen on x

  .@andymstone publicly claimed that @thewire_in story on @amitmalviya and his @Meta XCheck privileges is based on a document that ‘appears to be fabricated’. In an internal email, he asked ‘how the hell’ it was ‘leaked’. With @svaradarajan: https://t.co/LNmZdFyjMk

• @andymstone Andy Stone on x

  @ebakerwhite @MetaNewsroom No - so many issues with this. X-check has nothing to do with the ability to report posts. The posts in question were surfaced for review by automated systems, not humans. And the underlying documentation appears to be fabricated.

• @szhang_ds Sophie Zhang on x

  FB says the Wire's docs are fabricated. I'm inclined to believe them. They don't usually take this step - they refused to comment on my docs - and there were a number of discrepancies in the reporting/docs that might have been due to changes in the past two years but seem sus. ht…

• @kunalpurohit Kunal Purohit on x

  From putting reporters and editors on their “watchlist” to coming out with outright lies: Meta will do everything it takes to cover up, but little to curb hate on its platforms. https://twitter.com/...

• @svaradarajan Siddharth on x

  I promised we had a huge folo to our Meta-BJP story yesterday, so here goes! @jahnavi_sen and I bring you new and exciting details of Meta's damaging damage control exercise https://thewire.in/...

• @mitalilive Mitali Mukherjee on x

  Big story here from @thewire; 'Stone demanded an “activity report for the document for last one month”. Also that @jahnavi_sen and @svaradarajan must be added to a watchlist so that “any communication to them from our staff... is directly reported to me”. #Meta https://twitter.co…

• @pranavdixit @pranavdixit on x

  A Meta spokesperson finally comments on @thewire_in's story about Instagram and says that the screenshots in the story presented as evidence of a BJP official having special moderation privileges appear to be fabricated. Multiple sources associated with Meta told me the same. htt…

• @shashidigital Shashi Shekhar Vempati on x

  Little wonder that those who scream the loudest on “freedom of speech” are also the worst offenders on abuse of that freedom, fabricating documents in pursuit of a partisan activist agenda. https://twitter.com/...

• @ishaan_ani Ishaan Prakash on x

  Wow. Meta official says that The Wire's story about Instagram taking down posts automatically once flagged by BJP's IT Cell chief, was based on “fabricated” documentation. A very serious charge. https://twitter.com/...

• @jeffhorwitz Jeff Horwitz on x

  Clean pushback from @Meta comms alleging fabricated documents. In my own work, I've found these reliable. @andymstone, you're saying there was no favoring of the official's reporting, or government variation of the “trusted partner” situation? https://twitter.com/...

• @szhang_ds @szhang_ds on x

  To be clear, if they were fabricated, it was definitely done by a FB current/former employee that knew enough to make a plausible fake and the Wire was innocent other than being fooled.

• @2shar Tushar Kanwar on x

  Counter from Meta alleging the internal document published by The Wire appears to be fabricated. Still doesn't explain why a manual review didnt restore the aforementioned posts flagged erroneously https://twitter.com/...

• @karanbhasin95 Karan Bhasin on x

  Looks like @thewire_in either used fabricated documents or fabricated them. In either case, this looks very suspicious. https://twitter.com/...

• @akm1410 Ashish K. Mishra on x

  Appears to be fabricated is poor communication. Fabricated? Yes or no? https://twitter.com/...

• @klonick Kate Klonick on x

  Is this actually fabricated? Bc I'd love to know how Meta knows that's true and then I'd love to know how the Wire sources were vetted. (Everything else here about X-check jives with past/current sources; it is insane how people misunderstand X-check) https://twitter.com/...

• @daveyalba Davey Alba on x

  There is just so much in this, from Facebook/Meta's “watchlist” for journalists, to the demand from a senior comms person for “an activity report for the document for last one month — presumably in order to identify the source of the leak” https://thewire.in/... https://twitter.c…

• @ghonada @ghonada on x

  The Wire, ladies and gentlemen. A fantastic news organization. https://twitter.com/...

• @gautambhatia88 Gautam Bhatia on x

  Wow. The Wire brought receipts. https://twitter.com/...

• @akm1410 Ashish K. Mishra on x

  Very happy to see @thewire_in doubling down on its first story on Facebook. Excellent stuff! https://thewire.in/...

• @onosmosis Devesh Kumar on x

  This story by @jahnavi_sen & @svaradarajan will act as a landmark in defining tech journalism in India. On one side is @facebook, known to do shitty things, not release hate speech reports in India, and not deplatform MPs and MLAs associated with BJP. https://thewire.in/...

• @therealnaomib Naomi Barton on x

  This report is proof that not only is Meta working overtime to cover up its mutually beneficial relationship with the BJP, it also has no care for the “freedom of speech” value it uses to protect the right wing. https://thewire.in/...

• @thewire_in @thewire_in on x

  EXCLUSIVE | Yesterday, we reported that @amitmalviya has ‘XCheck’ status, giving him the ability to take down Insta posts. Meta's @andymstone replied saying our documentation was fabricated. So why did he send an email asking how it was leaked? 🧵 https://thewire.in/... https://tw…

• @vsirnate Vasundhara Sirnate on x

  The creepy part about this story is that Andy Stone's email asks to put @jahnavi_sen and @svaradarajan on a “watchlist”. Do they think these journalists are a threat? Also, does everyone know who traditionally goes on a watchlist? Ask the FBI. https://twitter.com/...

• @billyperrigo Billy Perrigo on x

  To sum up: - @thewire_in reported Meta gave the BJP's chief propagandist the unilateral ability to remove posts from Insta - @andymstone rubbished the report, saying evidence appeared faked - The Wire then drops internal email showing Stone asking “how the hell” evidence leaked h…

• @nehmatks Nehmat Kaur on x

  For all the ‘journalists’ who took on the task of defending Meta yesterday— I hope you're ashamed. https://twitter.com/...

• @samriddhi0809 @samriddhi0809 on x

  If BJP's Amit Malviya Reports Your Post, Instagram Will Take it Down No Questions Asked. @Meta,get a spine bro! Amit Malviya, you are hopeless and useless as usual. https://twitter.com/...

• @jeffhorwitz Jeff Horwitz on x

  The analogue would be giving Joe Biden's head of digital comms the ability to make any Instagram post disappear, no questions asked. It would be great if this weren't true. There are apparently documents, however. https://thewire.in/...

• @pranavdixit @pranavdixit on x

  No response from Facebook despite multiple requests for comment about @thewire_in's story is...not a great look. Mr. Malviya didn't respond to my texts either. https://thewire.in/...

• @drewpusateri Drew Pusateri on x

  Want to be measured here, but will just say that some of the claims in this story make zero sense and I'd view the entire thing with a TON of skepticism. https://twitter.com/...

• @milanv Milan Vaishnav on x

  .@FT “The Big Read” by @JohnReedwrites: “India's clamorous public square & disquisitive journalistic and intellectual culture has been a point of pride for many citizens. But the pressure on unfettered speech in the world's largest democracy is palpable.” https://www.ft.com/...

• @chakraview Sudeep Chakravarti on x

  @Meta @instagram seriously? You believe the key institutional conveyor of hate, misinformation and disinformation in India? https://twitter.com/...

• @mformuttley @mformuttley on x

  Basically FB is BJP's client https://twitter.com/...

• @sandeep_pt Sandeep Manudhane on x

  So it emerges that Amit Malviya directly controls censoring on Mark Zuckerberg's media portals in India (e.g. Instagram, etc.) He can get anything deleted at will. So other than totally enabling hate speech via WhatsApp Facebook and Insta, Mark also does this. Wow.

• @brianfishman Brian Fishman on x

  @evelyndouek Color me skeptical on this one.

• @tysonbrody Tyson Brody on x

  This is one way to keep regulators off your back

• @jeffhorwitz Jeff Horwitz on x

  I'd be curious if this shows up in the @OversightBoard work on this subject.

• @indian10000000 @indian10000000 on x

  Wow!! Instagram has been aiding the govt in curbing free speech ! Apparently, if Amit Malviya reports a post, Instagram takes it down - No Questions Asked A video of a person worshipping a statue of Y0gi, posted by ‘Superhumans of Cringetopia’, was taken down because ++ . https:/…

• @newspaperwallah Rahul Fernandes on x

  Most of the reactions to this piece either discredit the writer for his race and nationality, or the media generally. No fact-based counter-arguments. https://twitter.com/...

• @nsnadeemsarwar @nsnadeemsarwar on x

  So, Meta has put one of the country's worst people at spreading hate and misinformation on a privilege list that allows him to bypass all moderation and even get posts removed on priority without any checks. Hey ⁦⁦@mosseri⁩ is this how it works? https://thewire.in/...

• @iamcouncil Indian American Muslim Council on x

  “They try to target journalists, public intellectuals, or HR activists on the ground raising issues of civil importance, then book them on a case and send in the agencies, who are being weaponised against anyone,” @vinodjose told @FT. https://www.ft.com/...

• @elisugarman Eli Sugarman on x

  The @OversightBoard's forthcoming Policy Advisory Opinion (PAO) on Xcheck may shed some light on how it works. But this story seems to suggest that the BJP IT Cell is treated by @Meta like a super-empowered Internet Referral Unit (IRU) of sorts, which raises even more ?s... https…

• @konathamdileep @konathamdileep on x

  This is really shocking! @Meta you need to clarify... If BJP's Amit Malviya Reports Your Post, @instagram Will Take it Down - No Questions Asked. https://thewire.in/...

• @nsnadeemsarwar @nsnadeemsarwar on x

  It appears that @Meta wants to stay away from political heat and seeks to preserve its sweet sweet market share at the cost of plunging an entire country into a pit of hatred and violence. It's a familiar pattern @andymstone mind answering emails? Stellar work by @jahnavi_sen htt…

• @rajeshthind Rajesh Thind on x

  I wonder which power brokers get this sort of treatment in the U.K.? Who can pull strings at Facebook/Instagram/Meta to get people's social media posts /accounts quietly spiked/ muted/ subtly cut off from their audience? It can't only be in India this sort of thing happens...? ht…

• @jayati1609 Jayati Ghosh on x

  On the day when @FT's Big Read is about the threats to freedom of expression in India, here's a disturbing account of how supposedly free global social media like #Meta does the bidding of the ruling party, contravening its own rules! https://twitter.com/...

• @sandipghose @sandipghose on x

  So, who reports RW handles that are suspended regularly? If @amitmalviya is really that powerful One can think of many handles that wouldn't be on social media today. #Meta is rather porous, one must say. https://twitter.com/...

• @cramanakumar Ramana on x

  Wow, this eye-opening piece only validates what @bainjal so well exposed more than 6 years ago about the wretched, notorious & unscrupulous BJP IT Cell. Excellent reading for political science students. Shame on @instagram for allowing such unfair, biased, external policing. http…

• @jeffhorwitz Jeff Horwitz on x

  This is a REALLY big deal if the Wire's documentation is correct, which seems like a good bet based on their past track record. If this is accurate, the platform flat out gave the BJP's top digital operative an unchecked ability to remove content from the platform. https://twitte…

• @bizpears Elizabeth Pears on x

  While everyone is looking at China, read this 👇🏾 Crackdowns, lawsuits and intimidation: the threat to freedom of expression in India https://www.ft.com/...

• @amykazmin Amy Kazmin on x

  Excellent @FinancialTimes big read by my colleague @JohnReedwrites on the crackdowns, lawsuits, and other forms intimidation (oh yeah, and arrests) being used against journalists critical of the Modi govt in India/ https://www.ft.com/... #FreeSpeech #MediaFreedom

• @ftopinion @ftopinion on x

  The Big Read: “There seems to be a new strategy of claiming financial impropriety — not just for journalists, but for other civil society organisations. It immediately cloaks what is essentially a political attack” - Naresh Fernandes, editor of Scroll https://www.ft.com/...

• @evelyndouek Evelyn Douek on x

  Worth saying that the art says this was bc of fb's X-check program, but that's usually bc of the identity of the *poster* so not sure what's going on... But doesn't help that fb has prev not answered Oversight Board qs about its relationship w Indian gvt https://t.co/sCPsIgIVxg h…

• @evelyndouek Evelyn Douek on x

  “the post was taken down immediately... based simply on the identity of the reporter” how platforms respond to gvt actors flagging content is murky, but if it's true that Meta doesn't even check reports from Indian gvt before take-down that's not great!! https://thewire.in/...

• @dangillmor Dan Gillmor on x

  Fascism is rising, and this is one of the ways it works. https://twitter.com/...

• @iam_anandv @iam_anandv on x

  Amazing @ShivamShankarS. Every prediction of ours in the book has come true. https://twitter.com/...

• @jahnavi_sen Jahnavi Sen on x

  Exclusive: In September 2022, @amitmalviya reported 705 posts on Instagram. They were all taken down immediately - even when the reasons for reporting made no sense - because Malviya comes under Meta's controversial ‘XCheck’ list. https://thewire.in/... via @thewire_in

• @aroondeep Aroon Deep on x

  Meta and the Indian government have a logic-defyingly cozy relationship, even at a time when WhatsApp is in court suing the government. There are a lot of bodies buried to facilitate that relationship, and this is the latest shocking one. https://twitter.com/...

• @joshbudlender Josh Budlender on x

  Predictable consequences of handing speech regulation over to the tech overlords. Not only are celebrities and politicians exempt from the regular rules, they are empowered to shut you up if they want. https://twitter.com/...

• @miriambensman @miriambensman on x

  Well, isn't that disgusting. FB/instagram are willing tools of repression by India's hindu nationalists https://twitter.com/...

• @therealnaomib Naomi Barton on x

  Meta seems to be under the impression that freedom of speech - both of your own, and of everyone else's - should belong to a hidden uber-elite group, one of which is @amitmalviya. https://twitter.com/...

• @jahnavi_sen Jahnavi Sen on x

  Thread: On @amitmalviya and a secret list of ‘elite’ users who can do as they please on @Meta platforms. https://twitter.com/...

• @baxiabhishek Abhishek Baxi on x

  The malware in your Instagram! Terrific story by @jahnavi_sen on @thewire_in. If BJP's IT Cell chief, Amit Malviya, reports your post, Instagram will take it down without any of the company's moderators looking at it. What the what, @Meta? https://thewire.in/...

• @sharadraghavan @sharadraghavan on x

  An eye-opening report by @jahnavi_sen. The fact is, social media's beneficial impacts—organising support, coordinating protests, etc—are few and far between and all the more essential. The bread-and-butter of social media is to keep those in power happy. https://thewire.in/...

• @bala__g Bala on x

  “The company has given Malviya two levels of privileges - he can post as he likes, without the rules governing the platform applying to him, and he can impose his will as he pleases to have posts critical of the BJP..."| @jahnavi_sen 's exclusive https://twitter.com/...

• @tysonbrody Tyson Brody on x

  Wait meta gave a literal bjp party operative in India the ability to take down any post he wants but in the US we have to deal with the whole fake Supreme Court bs? https://twitter.com/...

• @akhmxt Kalim on x

  Facebook/Meta continues to give step child treatment to third world nations. The head of IT cell of India's ruling party has XCheck privilege and he is using it to shun critics. https://thewire.in/... https://twitter.com/...

• @akm1410 Ashish K. Mishra on x

  Wow. Documents accessed by The Wire confirms that BJP's Amit Malviya gets preferential treatment in India, the first such name to come out of South Asia, where he is on Instagram's XCheck list. https://thewire.in/...

• @svaradarajan Siddharth on x

  Exclusive: If BJP's @AmitMalviya Reports Your Post, Instagram Will Take it Down, No Questions Asked Shocking story by @jahnavi_sen on the kind of power @Meta is giving @BJP4India to unlevel the political playing field. https://thewire.in/... Via @thewire_in

• @rokhanna Ro Khanna on x

  This censorship is wrong. In my book Dignity in a Digital Age, I have a chapter detailing the government led censorship on Facebook in several countries and the use of the platform to incite violence in places like Myanmar. https://twitter.com/...

• @drsharmila15 DR Sharmila on x

  If he can take down posts at his whim and fancy, then imagine what kind of power @BJP4India must be wielding ... no wonder the social media is dominated by fake news and hate speech ....how much truth are we ‘not seeing’ on social media 🙄🙄 https://twitter.com/...

• @dr_amar_singh Dr. Amarinder Singh on x

  Not at all shocked, it's important for people to understand this. How big social media companies actually work with trolls silencing the voices of minorities while enabling vile propaganda 24x7 https://twitter.com/...

• @szhang_ds Sophie Zhang on x

  The Wire reports that FB Instagram automatically takes down posts reported by major Indian Xchecked figures without any oversight. This isn't familiar to me, but that's no surprise as I wouldn't have encountered this. Some thoughts, if it's true (major caveat): https://twitter.co…