We note that on October 18th, 2022, The Wire withheld specific reports published on their platform by Mr Devesh Kumar and others from public consumption. This step has been carried out in light of doubts and concerns raised in public over the past few days on the authenticity of the materials used in such reports; the practices followed to verify underlying materials, among many other serious concerns.

At this juncture, we would like to remind The Wire that the very same researchers had published an article earlier this year. The claims made against us were published without seeking our comment, quoted an expert who we understand has sought to distance himself from The Wire in the latest story and alleged collusion without a shred of evidence.

Various reputable third parties including other reputed journalists have raised several concerns about the reporting at that time and continue to do so today.

We had and continue to deny the fabricated allegations against us in the report in no uncertain terms at that time as well as today. However, we note that this report continues to be available online for public consumption, completely disregarding expert third-party views and questions about the veracity of the fantastic claims made.

ShareChat has never engaged with any person or company/organisation that is associated with or working on the mysterious “Tek Fog” application that has been conjured up by The Wire.

We urge The Wire to take down this previous report by Mr Devesh Kumar and others from public consumption, especially given that our severe reservations about the motivations and practices followed by Mr Kumar and others are now shared by many across the world and The Wire team as well.

Also, it would be prudent of The Wire team to publicly acknowledge that there may be discrepancies in this previous report as well. The Wire claims to have a greater responsibility to be transparent. We sincerely hope that it discharges that responsibility in full.