Several media organisations reported the online harassment and cyber bullying faced by a reporter at The Quint for a video of her criticising the lyrics of rapper Omprakash Mishra’s Bol Na Aunty Aun Kya.
Cake, which is the gender and sexuality space of online forum Youth Ki Awaaz, in an article titled “What Does A Journalist Get For Calling Out A ‘Rape Song’? Rape Threats” discusses how laced with misogyny the lyrics of the original song, now removed from YouTube, are.
Hindustan Times, in an interview with the Deeksha Sharma, the journalist who is the prime target of the trolls, asked her a question that has been repeatedly voiced by the trolls attacking The Quint and Quint Neon Facebook pages: Why does the media company not call out established rappers such as Honey Singh or Eminem?
Sexism in any way is unacceptable. Who told these people that I listen to Eminem or Honey Singh or haven’t called them out?Deeksha Sharma
The Indian Express and The Times of India carried stories on the complaint lodged by The Quint.
Sharma was also called in for conversation by television channel NewsX. Other participants included RJ Stutee Ghosh, author Ira Trivedi, and psychologist Dr K Kakkar.
NDTV discussed the matter in their 9 o’clock news.
The Wire has a detailed report on the history of the viral YouTube video, which has led to organisation of events at Delhi’s Connaught Place and a call for similar events in Mumbai and Bengaluru.
The report by Scroll.in contained an account of the trolling activity by MemeMandir, one of the pages involved in allegedly planning an event that invited trolls to shout “Bol Na Aunty Aun Kya” outside offices of The Quint.
BuzzFeed News detailed the activity of the several meme pages involved in the trolling, and reported some of the several offensive memes with the reporter’s face that are now under circulation.
International Business Times, meanwhile, provided the English version of the lyrics (as translated by Scoopwhoop) and have a copy of the video, as well. The original, uploaded by Omprakash Mishra, has been removed.
With screenshots of the comment section of the Facebook page Quint Neon, where the reaction video was originally published and where most of the trolls’ activity was concentrated, The News Minute also mentioned that other reporters at The Quint were also targeted with rape and even death threats.
PTI, too, released a short statement stating the facts as they currently stand.
InUth also published a report on the cyber-bullying and the subsequent police complaint filed by The Quint.
Early on Monday morning, The Free Press Journal published a report on the original song and the subsequent activity of the trolls proclaiming to be Omprakash’s fans.
India.com’s story details how the reporter was bullied, trolled and threatened by Mishra’s fans.
(#TalkingStalking: Have you ever been stalked? Share your experience with The Quint and inspire others to shatter the silence surrounding stalking. Send your stories to editor@thequint.com or WhatsApp @ +919999008335.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)