In an investigative report on Monday, 23 October, NDTV claimed that there has been a noticeable trend to indicate that the ruling government has been ‘employing’ what are popularly known as ‘trolls’ to clean up their online image – and do damage control on social media on their behalf.
NDTV journalists Sreenivasan Jain and Manas Pratap Singh, in their report, cited recent examples of the above phenomenon such as the Twitter hashtag #HaryanaWithKhattar.
This hashtag began trending on 31 August, soon after Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar was accused of failing to curb violence in the wake of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim’s rape conviction.
The report observes that soon after the hashtag was ‘planted’ it began trending thanks to the ‘efficiency’ of certain Twitter users who bombarded the social media portal with multiple posts using the hashtag. To put things into perspective, a certain Bhargav Jani, (going by the Twitter handle @bhargavjanibjp) had posted 63 tweets (that originated on other accounts) in 92 minutes with the #HaryanaForKhattar hashtag, reported NDTV.
This is not the only instance in which BJP supporters have endorsed such tweets. Here are the key takeaways from the NDTV report:
1. The ‘Silver Touch’ Pushing the BJP’s Agenda
The report notes that Jani, whom Prime Minister Narendra Modi follows on Twitter, has been a ‘social media manager’ at Ahmedabad-based IT firm ‘Silver Touch Technologies Ltd’ since December 2016. Jani’s detailed CV reveals that he tweets "at least 30 times a day while engaging influencers to increase the followership (sic) of client's social media profiles".
Now, while Silver Touch Technologies has big names like Reliance Industries on its clientele, the firm mostly serves the government. It maintains 46 government websites and develops apps for the President of India, Ministry of External Affairs, among other governments arms, reported NDTV.
The government of Gujarat, in particular, seemed to be an important client for the IT firm – NDTV managed to spot at least 17 state departments that had used their services.
Yet another employee of Silver Touch, namely, Himanshu Jain, one of the firm’s directors, was found to be endorsing pro-BJP tweets, through his handle @HimanshuJainOn. He had endorsed tweets using hashtags like #ModiTransformsIndia, for example.
2. BJP’s ‘Online Reputation Management’
During the sting operation, NDTV learnt from one Mr Jaiswal of Silver Touch:
If somebody does a negative comment, how do you react to the negative comment, how to neutralise it. It comes under online reputation communication. So we do all these activities. (sic)Mr Jaiswal, Silver Touch Technologies Ltd to NDTV
Moreover, a Mr Manoj from the firm backed Jaiswal’s claim, saying that indeed they performed such services and did “reputation work” for Haryana. However, these “reputation management” activities would have to be disguised as “content writing or something else” on paper.
A big revelation was that Silver Touch only worked for the BJP, as claimed in the NDTV report.
Also Read: The Curious Case of Indian Internet Trolls
3. Silver Touch Denies ‘Social Media’ Involvement
Not only were Silver Touch’s executives unwilling to talk on camera when the NDTV journalists visited their Delhi office, one Sanjoy Roy refuted all above mentioned claims of their being involved in “reputation management” activities, saying:
We are an IT services firm and have nothing to do with social media promotions.
So what about Silver Touch’s employees aggressively sharing pro-BJP posts on Twitter and attacking dissenters? Well, Roy seems to think it’s merely tweeting in “private capacity” and has nothing to do with Silver Touch’s ethos.
But if indeed Silver Touch’s employees were endorsing their ‘personal opinions’, why were they furiously tweeting out pro-BJP posts during office hours?
The NDTV report noted that both Himanshu Jain and Bhargav Jani had tweeted such posts between 10 am to 6 pm on a Tuesday and 3 pm and 4 pm on a Friday, respectively.
Moreover, whatever information NDTV had extracted from Mr Jaiswal and Mr Manoj (earlier mentioned) about their social media dealings involving the government, was blatantly denied by Roy.
4. BJP’s IT Cell Denies Link with Silver Touch Technologies
When interrogated over email by NDTV about the party’s connection with Silver Touch, this is what BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya wrote in response:
I don’t know of anyone with the name Bhargav Jani who works with BJP IT Cell in any formal or contractual capacity, either in the national team or any of the state teams. He may be a volunteer though. I also don’t know of Silver Touch Technologies. Have never met any of their representatives. So the question of BJP IT department having any kind of dealing with them doesn’t arise.
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