Meta claims the alleged Instagram Workplace account was an external one set up to 'manufacture evidence'

(Representative image: Reuters)

In the latest twist to Meta vs The Wire saga, the Facebook parent clarified on October 16 that a purported "internal Instagram system" that was depicted in a video published by the online publication is an "externally-created account" that was recently set up with Instagram's name and brand insignia "in order to deceive people".

The company said it has located the Workplace account in question and the company's initial investigation has found that the account was created on October 13, after the Wire's reports were published. Workplace is a collaboration and communication tool offered by Meta to various businesses.

"The account was set up externally as a free trial account on Meta’s enterprise Workplace product under the name “Instagram” and using the Instagram brand as its profile picture. It is not an internal account. Based on the timing of this account's creation on October 13, it appears to have been set up specifically in order to manufacture evidence to support the Wire's inaccurate reporting," the company said in a statement.

Meta stated it has now locked the account since it is a "violation of the company's policies and is being used to perpetuate fraud and mislead journalists". The company also noted that the investigation is still ongoing and will share more details in the future.

The latest statement comes after a weeklong public back-and-forth between the tech giant and online publication The Wire over the veracity of the latter's report, which claimed that Meta-owned Instagram gave Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) IT cell chief Amit Malviya uncontrolled ability to remove content from the platform.

The report claimed, citing internal documents, that this ability was granted as part of Meta's internal XCheck (Cross-Check) programme, which was disclosed in an investigation by The Wall Street Journal last year.

If true, it would indicate an expanded capability of the programme that currently exempts the posts made by millions of high-profile users including celebrities and politicians from the company's normal enforcement process.

On October 13, Meta stated that the leaked screenshots of its internal tools and the document that were mentioned in the article were “fabricated”.

“The URL on that “report” is not in use. The naming convention is one we don’t use. There is no such report,” it said. “We did not identify a user report regarding the @cringearchivist content in September as reported.”

However, in a follow-up story on October 15, The Wire had published a video that provided a walkthrough of an alleged Workplace account as evidence for its claims.

The report claimed that the account exists as an internal subdomain, accessible to a select group of employees when they log in through a specific email address and VPN. The online publication continues to defend its stories.