Kolkata: TMC’s Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien has written to the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs asking him to discuss the infringing software application ‘Tech Fog’.
In the letter written by the TMC MP, he has requested for discussion in a multi-party panel as per to him the issue pertains to ‘national security’.
Referring to the news in a web portal, O’Brien said, “This application is capable of entering encrypted messaging platforms and securing social media conversations, so that narratives on said platforms can be heavily manipulated and exploited.”
In the letter, O’Brien claimed that the use of the app, which is a ‘social media manipulator and hijacking software’, has ‘serious implications and could endanger national security’.
“The existence and use of manipulative technologies such as Tech Fog is a serious threat to national and citizens’ security, a violation of our fundamental rights to privacy and free speech, an exploitation of public discourse, and a sacrilege of the country’s democracy and security ” ,” read excerpts from the letter.
According to the report, the app can ‘hijack the trending section of Twitter’, ‘capture and phish inactive WhatsApp accounts’, ‘exploit databases for targeted harassment of private citizens’ and ‘wipe all evidence of your activities with a single click’.
It may be recalled that the Monsoon Session of Parliament was ‘pollinated’ after the opposition demanded an explanation from the Central Government in the Pegasus snooping case and several TMC MPs were also suspended for alleged ‘misbehaviour’ inside the House.
