Amber Zaidi responds to 'Bulli Bai' controversy; 'Women are easy targets on social media'

After the contentious app, 'Bulli Bai' was blocked over objectionable content, Social Worker Amber Zaidi on Sunday, January 2, stated that women are easy targets on social media. Her statement came after the portal sparked massive outrage across the country for sharing pictures of women from various professions including journalists, social workers, and others accompanied by derogatory content.  

Amber Zaidi said, "The language used against women shows there is hate. Ideology does not mean to hate the other".

Asserting that leaking personal information is unconstitutional, Amber Zaidi said, "Everyone has the freedom to speak and express, but we cannot resort to such means".

As per many Twitter users, multiple influential Muslim women including top journalists have been featured in the Bulli Bai application on the open-sourced platform GitHub. The screenshot shared by these women showed that their photos from their social media accounts were used to 'auction' them.

IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw responds to Github controversy 

As about 100 influential Muslim women's photographs were posted for auction on an app, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw directed GitHub, the hosting platform, to block the user. He then shared a tweet confirming the same and informed that the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) and police authorities are coordinating further action. Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) is the nodal agency that deals with cyber security threats.

This matter was brought to the notice of the IT minister by Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi on Twitter where she wrote, "I have repeatedly asked Hon. IT Minister @AshwiniVaishnaw ji to take stern action against such rampant misogyny and communal targeting of women through #sullideals like platforms. A shame that it continues to be ignored.”

Meanwhile, responding to the controversy, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wrote on Twitter, "The insult of women and communal hatred will only stop when you stand against it in one voice, and the year has changed, so change your fate and it's time to speak up."

Mumbai Police files case against 'Bulli Bai' developer

Amid massive uproar against the application, the Mumbai Police on Sunday lodged a case against the app developer hosted on GitHub. In the said case filed at West Region Cuber Police Station, Sections 153 (A), 153 (B), 295 (A), 54 (D), 509, 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) have been invoked along with Section 67 of the Information Technology (IT) Act.

The 'Bulli Bai' app incident holds similarity to the 'Sulli Deals' upload that happened in July last year. It is learned that the 'Bulli Bai' app worked similar to how Sulli Deals did. 

(Image: AmberZaidi/FACEBOOK/PTI)