BJP's IT cell chief Amit Malviya files criminal case against The Wire over alleged false report on Meta

According to an India Today report, in his complaint, Amit Malviya has alleged that The Wire forged documents with a view to maligning and tarnishing his reputation.

The report stated that Malviya has urged the police to register an FIR against The Wire's founding editors Siddharth Varadarajan, Sidharth Bhatia, MK Venu and Deputy Editor Jahnavi Sen for "cheating, forgery, harming reputation".

Malviya filed the case days after issuing a statement that he was going to sue The Wire for publishing reports claiming that he had special privileges to take down posts on Meta-owned Instagram.

The Wire, in a report published on October 6, 2022, claimed that Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, had taken down an Instagram post by a private account namely "Cringearchivist” within a few minutes of it being uploaded.

The report claimed that Amit Malviya, who is the IT cell chief of BJP had certain privileges to take down Instagram posts.

The report soon triggered a controversy with questions being raised over the credibility of Meta while people also questioned the authenticity of the sources cited by the news website.

Amid the row, The Wire editor Siddharth Varadarajan stated that the "stories came from multiple Meta sources—whom we know, have met and verified".

However, The Wire had to retract after Meta’s Communication Head, Andy Stone issued a categorical denial and stated that the documents presented by The Wire in its report were "fabricated", stated the India Today report.

Following this, The Wire had to not only withdraw its report but also issue an apology.

“To have rushed to publish a story we believed was reliable without having the associated technical evidence vetted independently is a failure of which we cannot permit repetition," it stated.