Shinde endorses Cobrapost expose on IT companies

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde today endorsed the claims of investigative website Cobrapost that IT companies are misusing social media platforms to artificially boost popularity of politicians and malign their rivals.

"I had raised these issues in the recent Intelligence Bureau conference. My worry is being proved right," he told reporters.

Cobrapost has alleged that IT companies are misusing social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to artificially boost politicians' popularity and malign their rivals, with many firms claiming to be working for BJP and Narendra Modi.

Shinde said he would like to get more details on the issue of misusing social media platforms from security agencies.

"Let me get more details," he said.

The sting, Operation Blue Virus, claims to have exposed about two dozen little-known IT firms across the country, which in the garb of providing reputation management services on social media, also offer fake fan following and posting defamatory content using IP addresses of others by hacking into them.