The Wire Hits Ex-Staffer With Police Complaint Over Meta Controversy: Report

This comes after Delhi Police filed an FIR against The Wire's editors based on a complaint by BJP's Amit Malviya.

BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya has on Thursday, 27 October, said that he has decided to initiate criminal proceedings against The Wire.

(Photo: Meghnad Bose/The Quint)

A police complaint has reportedly been filed by The Wire against its ex-researcher Devesh Kumar, who had worked with the independent news outlet on a retracted series of reports about the BJP's Amit Malviya and Meta, according to Scroll.

The news report stated that Vardarajan had confirmed the police complaint against Kumar.

However, Delhi Police spokesperson Suman Nalwa told The Quint, "We have been searching for the complaint too after the media report. They have not gone to any police station but have send an email during the night to sr officers."

"Siddharth only confirmed it. Ones the office opens tomorrow we will check," she added.

This comes a day after the crime branch of Delhi Police filed a First Information Report (FIR) against The Wire and its editors Siddharth Vardarajan, MK Venu, and Siddharth Bhatia as well as deputy editor Jahnavi Sen.

Special CP (Crime Branch) Ravindra Yadav confirmed the news of the FIR to The Quint on Saturday, 29 October.

Kumar was also part of the news website's exposé in January 2022 of an app called Tek Fog, which was also withdrawn recently.

The FIR has been registered under Sections 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery purpose of cheating), 469 (forgery for purpose of harming reputation), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), and 500 (criminal defamation) read with 120(B) and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Two days prior, BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya had said that he has decided to initiate criminal proceedings against the news outlet, days after it retracted its exclusive reports on Meta's XCheck programme and issued an apology to its readers.

"After consultation with my lawyers and seeking their advise, I have decided to file criminal and civil proceedings, against The Wire," wrote Malviya.

He added, "Not only will I be setting the criminal process in motion but I will also sue them in a civil court seeking damages as they forged documents with a view to malign and tarnish my reputation."

What Had Happened?

The Wire's reports had alleged that Instagram took down anti-government posts by an anonymous account, '@cringearchivist', only because it had been flagged by Amit Malviya and for no other reason.

It had made these claims based on a purported internal report and an email supposedly provided by The Wire's "sources within Meta."

Amid mounting questions on the authenticity of its reports and alleged lapses in its verification processes from independent technical experts, The Wire undertook an internal review which eventually led to a full retraction and a formal apology after midnight on 27 October.