Controversy over app designed to troll Muslim Women
Trolling a woman on social media is the easiest thing for a lot of people to do and this trolling is typically based on individual attacks.
But in India, harassment of Muslim women seems to go beyond all bounds.
It is so dangerous that sometimes I am forced to think why should I stay on this platform, should I stop speaking and writing?
The insults we receive are not only an attack on gender but also anti-Islamophobic. When Nasreen (whose name has been changed) speaks, her voice shows more anger than fear.
Suppose one day you wake up in the morning and see that your photos and personal information are being 'auctioned' on the internet and some people are bidding you with obscene comments, what will happen to you?
This is what happened last Sunday and Monday when an open source app was created on social media with pictures of several Muslim women. The name of this app was 'Sulli for Sale'.
Sulli is an insulting term used for Muslim women.
The information about the Muslim women used in this app was taken from Twitter. It featured photos of more than 80 women, their names and Twitter handles.
At the top of the app was written "Find Your Sulli Deal."
Clicking on it, a Muslim woman's picture, name and Twitter handle details were being shared with users.
The Editor Guilds of India also damned the assault on Muslim women and women journalists, telling the use of social media and digital platform to threaten women journalists was troublesome.
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| assault on muslim women using social media |
The answer to 'Git Hub'
This open source app was made on Git Hub, an internet hosting company. Though, it was detached by Git Hub on Monday evening.
The BBC contacted Git Hub by email. "We have suspended the user's account in this case," Git Hub said in response to our questions. An investigation has been launched based on the information. Content that promotes any form of discrimination, violence or abuse is a violation of our policies. "
Git Hub COO Erica Brescia tweeted that the account had been suspended, but did not say how it all happened.
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| complain recorded against misusing the platform |
Fear and anger
Nasreen, the victim of online harassment, is so frightened that she says, "I will not write my name. I don't know what will happen next."
She is one of the Muslim women whose photos and personal details have been put up for auction on this app.
Nasreen told the BBC: "I was informed by a tweet that a user with a screenshot of a girl wrote: I was looking for a good deal and I found it not my fault."
"When I went to this app, it said 'Find a Sulli'. When I clicked on it, my picture and Twitter account details came up with 'Your Deal for Today'.
"It simply came to our notice then. Earlier, a Twitter user wrote 'for sale' while sharing photos of some of my Muslim female friends.
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| An attempt by a Twitter user to encourage affected girls |
But in the next moment, she was scared that this time the level of harassment has gone beyond Twitter. A whole platform has been set up to harass us. I don't know what could happen next. "
"If Muslim women talk, they are threatened with rape, personal information is sold."
"No matter how strong you are, if your image and your personal information are made public, it scares and frightens you. Many of the girls who encountered this problem for the first time deleted their accounts. The girls have been intimidated. "
But despite all the anger and fear, Nasreen is not ready to complain to the police.
"A lot of women are victims," she says. We are thinking about what the legal options might be, but to be honest, I don't expect much from the police.
"Former, when something like this happened to my friends during Eid, they protest and made a complaint with the police but not taken any action. It is easy for Muslim women to escape by saying anything.
Open source platform
The BBC tried to find information about the app through archives. We learned that this app was launched on June 14.
The highest activity took place between July 4 and 5. It was an open source community app developed on Git Hub, a software coding provider.
The BBC used a coder to understand what open source platforms are and how they work.
In fact, open source code is generalized and new features can be added to it from different community codes or if there is an error, it can be removed. Whether or not changes made to these codes appear in the app is up to the app designer.
If this app is deleted from the designer, then the system provider in the domain has information about this app.
The 'Sulli for Sale' app is no longer available on the Git Hub. Nor is it known who designed it.
"It's terrible, Hindus should speak up for us too."
Farah Khan (pseudonym) was out doing her work when her friends sent her a screenshot of the app.
"I found out on the morning of July 5 when my friends told me that your picture was on a website," she said. Although this photo has now been removed and the website is down, I was very upset to see the 'for sale' tag attached to my photo. Truthfully, I didn't understand what happened. '
'I have more terrible thoughts, do they have any more information about me? Isn't the next step that more information about me will be shared on another platform in the same way? Then it occurred to me that they wanted Muslim women who spoke up for their rights to be intimidated.
""The very main thing is that liberal Hindus should protest against what is wrong in our fight," says Farah. People should rise above religion and raise their voices by saying wrong is wrong.
"A lot of women similar to me and I tweeted and tagged women's organizations and Delhi Police but no inquiry was held. Those who are doing so have no fear of the police and the law because they believe no action will be taken against them.
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| Police not taking any action for trolling women |
But some women have lodged a complaint with the Delhi Commission for Women.
Complaints registered in Delhi and Mumbai
A few Muslim women whose information was public on the app are from the Indian capital, Delhi, and some from another cities.
The BBC contacted the Delhi Police but received no response. The Delhi Commission for Women has sent a notice to the Delhi Police seeking registration of an FIR.
Fatima, from Mumbai, who was harassed through the app, lodged a complaint at the Saki Naka police station on July 5.
In response, the Saki Naka police station has asked Twitter India and Git Hub for information about the app's creators and the people who shared it on Twitter.
Police have asked Git Hub for the IP address, location, as well as the email ID and phone number used to create the app.
In addition, Twitter has been asked to delete some objectionable tweets and the data of those who run this handle.
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