Certain Twitter accounts were found to be “auctioning” hundreds of Muslim women online subsequently after their photos were uploaded on an app named “Bulli Bai” using the hosting platform GitHub, with inappropriate hashtags like “#BulliBai” and “#SulliDeals.” One of the ladies listed in the “Bulli Bai” app stated that it gathers images of Muslim women from their social media accounts and invites people to join in their “auction.”
Furthermore, this is not the first time Muslim women have been targeted on social media platforms like Twitter. Many women were allegedly “auctioned” on Twitter by anonymous accounts in the past, and despite the repeated FIRs filed with the Delhi Police, no action was carried out against those perpetrators.
So far, the authorities have taken some much-needed actions in response to this sexist and racist hate directed towards Muslim women on Twitter. Satej Patil, Maharashtra’s Minister of State for Home and Information Technology, has called for fast and heavy punishment for the culprits of the “Bulli Bai” app scandal. The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) summoned the Delhi Police Cyber Crime Unit in connection with the “Bulli Bai” case and sought the immediate arrest of all culprits. The person behind the “Bulli Bai” app was also banned by the hosting platform GitHub, while Twitter suspended a profile active in the marketing and spreading of links to the software. The Indian government, too, sought a high-level investigation from the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN or ICERT).
– Shubhangi Kumari Mishra
(Content Writer, WCSF)