India: CFWIJ condemns organized troll campaign targeting Rana Ayyub for criticizing the government on their handling of farmers’ protests.
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February 5, 2021, New Delhi - Indian journalist Rana Ayyub was targeted for criticizing the government over the ongoing farmers’ protest in the country. The Coalition for Women In Journalism condemns the organized troll campaign that was launched against the journalist.
In a tweet on February 4, Rana expressed distress at the relentless trolling she was targeted with.In the tweet, journalist Rana called the aggression this time around “something she has never witnessed before”.
The kind of hate , misogyny, threats, abuse I have seen on my timeline in the last two days is something I have never witnessed before ( Given that i am immune to the worst possible trolling on social media). If this is not intimidation, I don't know what is
— Rana Ayyub (@RanaAyyub) February 4, 2021
Several journalists, stationed within and outside India, were targeted with attacks on social media because of their coverage of the farmers’ protests.
The protests began in response to the Indian Agricultural Acts of 2020 which were passed in September last year.
The acts of farm bills, as they are regularly referred to, aim to remove government regulations from the agricultural markets, leaving farmers vulnerable to exploitation at the hands of big businesses. The move sparked outrage among rural communities who have now reached the national capital, New Delhi, to register a protest. The state response, so far, has been confrontational. Demonstrations by the farmers have been met with gas shelling and water canons.
Supporters of the current government have also taken to online spaces to silence any criticism of the government’s actions. Members of, what is popularly called the “IT Cells”, and are widely perceived as state-sanctioned troll farms, have conducted aggressive online targeted attacks on critics and journalists, particularly women.
CFWIJ condemns what appears to be a state-sanctioned targeted design to silence women journalists and critics in India. Freedom of speech is a democratic necessity, and intimidation tactics like these are not only reprehensible but antithetical to the Indian claim to democracy.
