New Delhi: Twitter saw the social media version of a communal riot, lasting over a day, in the wake of the murder of Kamlesh Tiwari, the 45-year-old leader of ultra-Right outfit Hindu Samaj Party. The social media platform said it stopped an extremely provocative anti-Muslim hashtag from trending after complaints.
Tiwari, who was stabbed and shot on 18 October, rose to prominence with his strong anti-Muslim and pro-Hindutva stance, hate speeches and role in the Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya in 1992.
Over the weekend, the hashtag #मुस्लिमो_का_संपूर्ण_बहिष्कार (Total boycott of Muslims) became a top trend, garnering tweets from trolls, self-proclaimed Hindutva bhakts, pro-Right users and even some BJP leaders.
Boycott and stop buying any goods and services from these converted 🇮🇳🇮🇳
— (((Fearless Hindu))) (@_Hinduism_) October 20, 2019
Defamatory and inflammatory tweets did the rounds, including one video, which shows a young Muslim boy saying anybody who speaks against Islam will be gunned down. The video was retweeted nearly 1,000 times.
The Muslim madrasas taught Hindus are Kafir , convert them to Islam those who do not convert kill them. Why does the govt funding madrassa to makes terrorist #मुस्लिमों_का_संपूर्ण_बहिष्कार pic.twitter.com/hSqkgL2Rix
— RAJENDER JOSHI (@rajenderjoshi2) October 21, 2019
Other posts on the micro-blogging site called for ostracising Muslims.
After users flagged the tweets for their content, Twitter responded to ThePrint saying, “We do not tolerate the abuse or harassment of people on the basis of religion. As per our Help Center, there are Rules for trends and we have prevented this hashtag from trending as it was in violation of the Twitter Rules.”
By the time the hashtag was taken off top trends Tuesday, other hashtags had picked up, which called for a revolt against using or buying goods from Muslims. The content escalated to extremely graphic videos and images threatening violence.
A Twitter spokesperson said the singular goal of the platform is to “improve the health of the public conversation.”
“Attempting to game trending topics is a practice as old as trends on Twitter themselves, and we’ve invested heavily in thwarting spam and other attempts to manipulate trends. Importantly, as bad actors change their tactics, we actively modify our technological tools to stay ahead,” the spokesperson said in response to why Twitter took more than a day to act on the hashtags.
Also read: In the name of Hinduism, people are boycotting tea, food, fashion, detergent and all logic
Here not all hashtags are mentioned. There are many more abusive hashtags related to Muslims and Islam that day. I needed that today for some reference.
You biased people are not gonna show the comments of the converted cowards who are celebrating this ….almost all muslims are either defending the accuse or abusing the victim
Muslims are already self employed, although you see many poor Muslim one hardly sees any Muslim beggars.
The Jews in Europe faced discrimination for government jobs, and boycotts but because of this they evolved to be self sufficient businessmen who depend on themselves directly to create wealth.
Indian Muslims will eventually be immune to such discrimination and become a rich prosperous community as business, unlike employment with another, gives greater scope for wealth.
Indian Muslims ruled over most of the nation for around 700 years prior to the arrival of the Europeans. They enjoyed unfettered political and military dominance over the sub-continent. If despite that they are poor today, it speaks volumes about their capability to create and sustain wealth in the community.
indian muslims ?? have you ever heard of a place called persia?? you are living your life with misunderstandings .. just like muslims who think that an imaginary god gives 72 virgins in a heaven with rivers of wine…pathetic…indian muslims are converted who loved the INVADERS.. most of the converted divided this nation and created pottystan..and you know how much of a super power the muslim ruled pottystan has become??
and dont presume my religion .. i am an atheist
according to the pedo the world is a prison for believers and heaven for non belivers ..he also said black dogs are satanic … music is haram and comets are thrown at devil…