The Wire retracts reports on Meta citing discrepancies

New Delhi: The Wire announced on Sunday as retracting it contentious reports on Meta's content moderation policies, citing "certain discrepancies".

Alongside, the publication added that "lapses in editorial oversight are also being reviewed, as are editorial roles, so that failsafe protocols are put in place ensuring the accuracy of all source-based reporting".

"Our investigation, which is ongoing, does not as yet allow us to take a conclusive view about the authenticity and bona fides of the sources with whom a member of our reporting team says he has been in touch over an extended period of time," The Wire said in a post.

The latest communique from the Wire comes days after it had announced a decision to marshal an internal review of its coverage of Meta, according to a report in The News Minute.

The Wire said, "We are still reviewing the entire matter, including the possibility that it was deliberately sought to misinform or deceive The Wire. Lapses in editorial oversight are also being reviewed, as are editorial roles, so that failsafe protocols are put in place ensuring the accuracy of all source-based reporting."

The Wire triggered series of reports on Meta with a 'sensational claim' that Meta had given special privilege to the IT cell head of Bharatiya Janata Party Amit Malviya under its XCheck programme. This meant that Amit Malviya could take down posts at will.

Because of what it called 'discrepancies" being found in the review of its stories on Meta, the Wire said it would review previous reporting by its technical team worked on Meta stories.

TNM reported that there would be a review of Tek Fog stories co-written by Devesh Kumar, who had also worked on the Meta stories.

The Wire's sensational reporting on Meta triggered on October 6 with a story about an Instagram post by a meme page that was taken down in September.

The Wire reported at the time that a post by the page Superhumans' Archive of Cringetopia was taken down citing 'sexual activity and nudity', though there was no such content.

The video the page mocked was about a man a man worshipping an idol of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

On October 10 The Wire claimed that Meta had given special privileges to BJP leader Amit Malviya under its controversial XCheck programme to remove posts at his will without a review by Met, according to the report.

The story came with a screenshot of an internal report of Instagram, which reportedly indicated that the deleted post had been reported by the account of BJP's IT cell head Amit Malviya.

Meta reacted to the reports alleging that the internal report cited by The Wire "appears to be fabricated".

According to the company, the video shared by The Wire, which purportedly shows an internal Instagram system, appears to have been "set up specifically in order to manufacture evidence to support The Wire's inaccurate reporting", IANS reported.

IANS reported that Meta Chief Information Security Officer Guy Rosen had also slammed The Wire for publishing fake stories, which, according to Rosen, were "outlandish and riddled with falsities".

The Wire said it is working with independent security experts in its ongoing investigation, it added.

Also with inputs from IANS