Curious case of the toolkit

THE plot in the ‘Congress’ toolkit case has thickened. Social media platform Twitter has, after an internal probe, concluded that the toolkit is ‘manipulated’ — forged, in other words. Following this, Twitter attached ‘manipulated media’ labels to tweets with which BJP leaders, supporters and social media campaigners shared the toolkit document, which was purported to be prepared by the Congress to malign Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Central and state governments. The contents of the toolkit are damning, judging by the pdf file shared by BJP’s national spokesperson Sambit Patra. The document, allegedly originating from a Congress worker’s WhatsApp account, advises Congress leaders and workers to corner Modi and the government on Covid management, Central Vista project, PM Cares Fund and Kumbh Mela, among other issues. Some of the suggestions are aimed at widening the communal divide and sullying the country’s image.

Twitter, however, has concluded that the toolkit is ‘manipulated’. Twitter’s policy states that documents or media ‘that are synthetic or manipulated, shared in a deceptive manner, and are likely to cause harm’ may not be shared on the platform. Several independent researchers and tech experts, after analysing the document and file data, have reached the conclusion that the document is, prima facie, forged. They also conclude that screenshots shared by Patra, allegedly linking the document to former Congress MP Rajeev Gowda’s office, are fake. In defence of the government, the IT Ministry has said that ‘Twitter has unilaterally drawn a conclusion in this matter’ despite an ongoing police investigation.

Social media platforms such as Twitter are criticised, rightly, when they are used to disseminate rumours, falsehoods and fake news. If, using its own domain knowledge and expertise, Twitter identifies media as manipulated or fake, it must be lauded because, after all, nothing matters more than the truth. It is possible that Patra and the BJP were taken in by these dubious documents. The government must, in the interest of truth and justice, ensure that law enforcement agencies get to the bottom of this curious mystery. The case holds out an important lesson for all of us — don’t mindlessly believe everything that lands in your inbox.