The Editors Guild of India (EGI) condemned the online harassment directed towards well-known female journalists using an application by the name of “Tek Fog” and asked the government and the Supreme Court to take action regarding the same.
The EGI noted that the all the women who suffered verbal harassment were also met with threats of rape for the sole reason that they were critical of the ruling establishment headed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Tek Fog, is an application which steals unused WhatsApp accounts to send out toxic messages to targeted journalists. An investigation conducted by digital media portal, The Wire, shed light on the well funded network to facilitate the application.
The Guild notes that the sole purpose of the application seems to be to instill fear in journalists and and prevent them from expressing themselves freely. In connection with the same, in a press note, the EGI raised the issue of prominent Muslim women being auctioned off online under the Git Hub application under the banner of “Bulli Bai”.
The press note penned by the EGI argued that though the accused in the Git Hub scandal have been arrested, there is a need for further investigation into the matter as the other accused yet to be nabbed are still out in the open.
“Given the allegations that there may be the involvement of the ruling party with regards the Tek Fog application, the Guild demands that the Supreme Court take cognizance of the matter and order a probe into it,” said the press note.
