'Bulli Bai' app targeting Muslim women shut

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 2

Facing outrage after photographs of almost 100 influential Muslim women were uploaded for a fictitious “auction” on an app, Minister for Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw has said GitHub, the hosting platform, has confirmed blocking the operator of the app called “Bulli Bai”.

Second such case

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• ‘Bulli Bai’ app was similar to ‘Sulli Deals’ which came up in July last year
• Photos of 100 Muslim women were uploaded
• GitHub, the hosting platform, said user was blocked
• CERT, police coordinating further action: IT Minister

In a tweet late on Saturday evening, Vaishnaw said, “GitHub confirmed blocking the user this morning. CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) and police in Delhi and Mumbai are coordinating further action.”

The Delhi and Mumbai Police have registered separate cases. In Delhi, a journalist lodged a complaint with the cyber cell, alleging her pictures had been uploaded on the app. She took to Twitter informing that her complaint had been registered and a case under Sections 153A (promoting enmity on grounds of religion etc), 153B (imputations prejudicial to national integration), 354A & 509 (sexual harassment) had been filed.

The app was almost similar to “Sulli Deals” app upload in July last year. “Sulli” and “Bulli” are slang words used derogatorily for Muslim women. GitHub was the host for both apps. The app encouraged people to participate in the “auction”.

After “Bulli Bai” app uploaded pictures of Muslim women taken from their social media accounts, it sparked outrage among political parties and netizens. The National Commission for Women has written to the Delhi Police to expedite action and ensure that such crime does not recur.

In Mumbai, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said the matter was with the police and the culprit should be arrested at the earliest.

Last year, the Union Government had cited offending content against women as one of the reasons for framing the new digital rules that called for intermediaries for identifying the user hosting the offensive content within 24 hours. Two FIRs were filed by the Delhi and UT Police in the “Sulli Deals” incident last year.