BJP's Amit Malviya to file criminal and civil proceedings against The Wire for 'tarnishing reputation'

The publication's reports had insinuated that the BJP leader was behind removal of some posts from Instagram

BJP's IT department head Amit Malviya on Thursday said he will file criminal and civil proceedings against 'The Wire', as he accused the news portal of using "forged documents with a view to malign and tarnish" his reputation.

The Wire in a statement this evening said journalists rely on sources for stories and do their best to verify material they receive.

"Technological evidence is more complicated and the usual due diligence may not always reveal the fraud perpetrated upon a publication. This is what happened to us," it said.

The Wire in a series of news reports, now retracted, had alleged that Meta, the parent company of social media giants -- WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram -- has accorded special privileges to Malviya that enable him to get posts removed from its platforms.

The reports had insinuated that the BJP leader was behind removal of some posts from Instagram.

"After consultation with my lawyers and seeking their advise, I have decided to file criminal and civil proceedings against 'The Wire.' Not only will I be setting the criminal process in motion but I will also sue them in civil court seeking damages as they forged documents with a view to malign and tarnish my reputation," Malviya said in a statement.

Under scrutiny, including from some experts, over the reports, The Wire last week formally retracted its Meta stories after conducting an internal review of the technical source material used, with the help of external experts.

The news portal also apologised to its readers for slippage in its editorial assessment. "This combination of not fully grasping the complexities of technology and a slippage in editorial assessment of tech-related matter resulted in the publication of stories which did not eventually hold up. For this we owe an apology to our readers," the news portal said.

In the fresh statement, The Wire said, "In the life of any publication, an occasion may come when it is misinformed. The moral test is whether the publication persists or speaks the truth. We chose the latter when we realised we had been given fraudulent information."

"Whether the person who brought all the material to The Wire deceived us at anyone' else's behest or acted on his own is a matter that will be subjected to judicial process in due course," the portal said.

"The malintent to discredit The Wire is obvious. Other than this, we have nothing to say," the statement said.