Internet commerce firm Meesho, operated by Fashnear Technologies, on Tuesday said it has issued a legal notice to some social media influencers, other individuals in contact with these influencers, alleging orchestration of a smear campaign against the unicorn.
Meesho did not disclose the identities of the influencers it has sent notices to. It has not disclosed what law the influencers are accused of violating.
The legal notices come after several Twitter influencers shared images of WhatsApp chats in which their services were sought to criticize Meesho's business model as well as its backers like Sequoia, Elevation Capital, and SoftBank.
“On June 2, 2022, Twitter user Ravisutanjani Kumar (@Ravisutanjani) exposed a concerted campaign against Meesho wherein several influencers put out a series of tweets tagging the company’s investors, with an aim to allegedly malign the company’s reputation by spreading falsehood and lies. Following the exposé, some influencers acknowledged that said tweets were paid promotions while others deleted their posts,” Meesho said in a statement.
The tweet highlighted four influencers sharing the same Economic Times report on Meesho’s efforts to cut costs and simultaneously tagged investors of Meesho.
“This is not the first time that Meesho has been targeted by those with vested interests looking to defame the company,” Meesho said in its statement.
The company added, “Twitter users Udita Pal and Aashima Arora voluntarily came forward to share instances from earlier this year where they were approached to put out negative tweets about the company in lieu of monetary benefits.”
The company has said it will continue to monitor the situation and consider strict legal recourse against those spreading misinformation and lies about the company.