Cobrapost exposes the underbelly of social web

How IT companies use Facebook, Twitter to malign rivals

An undercover operation by investigative website Cobrapost has revealed how IT companies are misusing social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to artificially boost politicians popularity and malign their rivals, with many firms claiming to be working for BJP and Narendra Modi.

The sting, Operation Blue Virus, claims to have exposed about two dozen little known IT firms across the country, which are running the shady business of online reputation management,

These IT firms offer clients fake fan following on Facebook and Twitter and conduct negative publicity cam- paign against a political leader or a party, or a corporate house, at the behest of the rival camp, all for money.

Cobrapost Associate Editor Syed Masroor Hasan approached over two dozen IT companies and posed as a front man for a fictitious politician from an opposition party. He asked them to engage in an image building exercise on social media before the assembly elections. He also entrusted them with the task of destroying the opponent's reputation with negative publicity to help 'Netaji' win not only assembly elec- tion with a handsome margin but also a ticket for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and eventually a cabinet berth.

All the firms that Hasan visited offered to create a fan following (not necessarily genuine) on Facebook and Twitter, to destroy the reputation of the political opponent.

"Operation Blue Virus also revealed that BJP is leading from the front in its social media campaign, if the claims of the companies exposed are to be believed. So is its Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, with scores of companies working overtime for him," Cobrapost said in a release.

The negative content is posted online from countries like the US or Korea, to avoid detection of source.

Some companies allegedly offered to post negative content using proxy servers; they even offered to hack into the computers of other individuals to post defamatory content using their IPs. One man allegedly offered not just to provide the undercover journalist with booth-wise demographics of voters, but also to detonate a bomb or spread rumours of a riot-like situation to ensure voters from a particular community did not turn up to vote on polling day.