article<\/a> revealing the strong BJP connections with Shivnath Thukra evident from tweets that the \u201cinfo 2020\u201d third-party Twitter client is an Opalina product.<\/p>\nOpalina’s Links to the Government<\/h3>\n
Opalina had also developed the CottonIsCool hashtag campaign that many high-profile users linked to the government used.<\/p>\n
It is no small secret that Opalina with its employees had directly aided in PM Modi’s election and hashtag campaigns, with Facebook being fully aware of it.<\/p>\n
Opalina products were used to moderate comments on Modi\u2019s Facebook page, and manage letters received by PMO.\u00a0 According to News Laundry, a<\/em>n Opalina employee named Vimal Kumar, in his resume that was previously uploaded to his LinkedIn profile, described the projects he executed for his company. Kumar\u2019s resume, which is no longer visible on his LinkedIn profile, was retrieved and archived by these reporters while it was still visible.<\/p>\nWhen contacted, Kumar claimed he didn\u2019t execute these projects and it must have been a mistake on his part to mention those projects in his Linkedin profile.\u00a0\u00a0Kumar had described two projects that he worked on executing.<\/p>\n
The first is the \u201cNM Comments Moderation Panel\u201d, which was described as a panel for the moderation of comments received from users on Narendra Modi\u2019s Facebook page.<\/p>\n
The second project listed in Vimal Kumar\u2019s resume was for the prime minister\u2019s office, or PMO, an institution of the Indian government. This project, named \u201cNM Letters\u201d, is described as a content management system used in the PMO to manage letters received by it.<\/p>\n
When reporters connected to Kumar over the phone to ask him whether he had been asked by his employer (Opalina<\/em>) to take down his resume from LinkedIn, he said that he had not been asked to do so.\u00a0 When once again News Laundry<\/em> reporters asked him whether he had indeed worked on the projects that he had listed on his resume, he replied he had not.<\/p>\nWhy then had he listed them on his resume? Vimal Kumar responded: \u201cThat must have been by mistake.\u201d\u00a0 What was the need to hide information that had already been in the public purview?<\/p>\n
Opalina can also be connected to a website, The True Picture<\/em>, which supports Modi and is accused of spreading disinformation. Web searches reveal that articles uploaded to the website are also hosted on a www.opalina.in staging platform. The Delhi-based BlueKraft Digital Services runs this website.<\/p>\nOn News Laundry’s<\/em> questioning, Opalina\u2019s<\/em> Gaurav Sharma said, “The questions you pose to us are nothing further than a fishing and roving inquiry calling upon our company to share confidential and proprietary information to serve your oblique purposes. We also reserve our rights to take every possible step as we may be advised in accordance with the law to protect our proprietary information and we will not hesitate to file criminal complaints about any attempt\/ abetment for stealing any proprietary information owned by our company.\u201d<\/p>\nAll Institutes Complicit and Opposition in India Helpless:<\/h3>\n
In 2017, Facebook owner, Mark Zuckerberg said that he was “deeply sorry about the role Facebook played in the 2016 US Presidential election” and wrote, “For those I hurt this year, I ask forgiveness and I will try to be better.”<\/p>\n
Zuckerberg went on to write, “For the ways my work was used to divide people rather than bring us together, I ask forgiveness and I will work to do better.”<\/p>\n
There is an awareness that right-wing extremists have permeated Facebook to control its reigns, and not only Facebook but the heart of corporate, every institution, be it the courts, the media, the schools, the police, the Army, and every so-called independent institution seeking to change the DNA of these institutions and Indians are pretty much helpless.<\/p>\n
Why is the Opposition so helpless at this time?<\/h3>\n
One would say many factors play a role in paralyzing the Opposition, but will chalk out three for now.<\/p>\n
Money of the BJP<\/strong><\/h4>\nThe first is money being the largest, which was able to “buy” institutions. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) earns a heavy income through fuel taxes earning Rs 27 lakh crore just through fuel taxes.<\/p>\n
Also their income during the financial year 2019-20 saw a 50 percent jump as it earned heavily from electoral bonds and donations from various sources, according to the annual audit report published by the Election Commission of India (ECI).<\/p>\n
Pegasus Spyware Prey Held Opposition Paralyzed<\/strong><\/h4>\nThe second is Pegasus, spyware spying on bigwigs and allegedly holding them captive through blackmail. It is said that the previous chief justice of India was blackmailed this way and silenced.<\/p>\n
In India, the Pegasus Project investigations alleged that the Pegasus spyware was used on ministers, opposition leaders, political strategists and tacticians, journalists, activists, minority leaders, supreme court judges, religious leaders, administrators like Election Commissioners, and heads of Central Bureau of Investigation and many other agencies and individuals.<\/p>\n
Why are many Opposition leaders rather silent?\u00a0 They make just enough noise to make the public aware they are alive and then they slide back into their caves, hibernating for long seasons.<\/p>\n
Tek Fog: The most elaborate online political manipulation operation ever discovered<\/strong><\/h4>\nThe third is Tek Fog, a software application, operable via a mobile phone reportedly used by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to infiltrate social media platforms in order to promote favorable perspectives through misinformation and prey on perceived opponents.<\/p>\n
The application also managed a huge database of Indian citizens, based on occupation, religion, age, gender, etc., and delivered targeted insults and criticism.<\/p>\n
A key function of the software was to manipulate trending features on Twitter and Facebook, by automatically sharing or retweeting posts, and promoting existing hashtags to trending levels.<\/p>\n
Le Monde commented that it is perhaps the most elaborate online political manipulation operation ever discovered.<\/p>\n
Social Media, the Opposition, and even the general public are aware of all connections and happenings and never took any steps to curb misinformation or hate speech.\u00a0 While netizens criticize all that is going on, nothing much can be done. Perhaps not everyone is aware of the repercussions where in time, they themselves will be victims of the system they created. And then it will be too late to cry.\u00a0 It is a lost drowning system unless a savior arrives to save the system in the nick of time!<\/p>\n
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