Singer-actor Rihanna, on Tuesday, 2 February, sparked international support for the farmers' movement after she tweeted a story by news outlet CNN on the internet blockade imposed in some districts of states around Delhi, in view of the farmers' protest.
She tweeted, “Why aren’t we talking about this?! #FarmersProtest”
Know that with over 101 million followers, the 32-year-old musician has the fourth most followed Twitter account in the world.
Since it was tweeted at 8:59 pm on 2 February, Rihanna's tweet has been retweeted over 2,65,000 times, and has received over 6,01,000 likes and 35,000 quote tweets. It also has over 99K comments.
After Rihanna’s tweet went viral, numerous international figures like climate activist Greta Thunberg, Lebanese-American model Mia Khalifa, and Kamala Harris’ niece Meena Harris have also voiced their support for the farmers in India.
Additionally, British MP Claudia Webbe, and YouTuber Lilly Singh, among others, have taken to Twitter to thank Rihanna for her support to the farmers' movement.
Keywords like ‘Rihanna’ and ‘Greta’ have also been in the top 20 trending Twitter keywords (as on 3 February, 9 pm).
Although in India, the reactions have been mixed. While Punjabi actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh has released a new song praising popstar Rihanna, Home Minister Amit Shah shared the Ministry of External Affairs’ statement on the issue, and tweeted “No propaganda can deter India’s unity!”
As on 8:30 pm on 3 February, ‘#IndiaAgainstPropaganda’ is the number 1 trending hashtag on Twitter.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)