Chinmayi’s petition to shut down abusive Twitter accounts gets nearly 1 lakh signatures

The petition was started by the singer on March 7, soon after she was faced with a series of rape threats on the micro-blogging site.
Chinmayi’s petition to shut down abusive Twitter accounts gets nearly 1 lakh signatures
Chinmayi’s petition to shut down abusive Twitter accounts gets nearly 1 lakh signatures
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An online petition kick-started by singer Chinmayi Sripada, seeking to block users who issue rape threats from their Twitter handle, has gathered close to one lakh signatures. As of Friday morning, the change.org petition had 98,171 supporters. 

The petition was started by the singer on March 7, soon after she was faced with a series of rape threats on the micro-blogging site. According to her petition, some Twitter users even warned her of an acid attack and other forms of assault. 'Shaken' by the responses she received for 'expressing her opinion', the singer decided to report the threats to Twitter. But she was reportedly told that no action will be taken till a police complaint was filed. 

"Most women give up at this stage and quit Twitter. I decided to fight and file a police complaint," says Chinmayi in her petition. "Ultimately my fans helped us identify my abusers. 3 people were arrested and spent 10 days in jail," she adds.

The singer states that the incident had left her furious and concerned about the millions of ordinary women on Twitter who do not have the support and resources to fight these rape threats. "It is the responsibility of Twitter to ensure that their platform is not used for promoting violence against women," says the singer. "I started this petition to send a strong message against online abuse, by large scale shutdown of accounts which tweet rape threats against women," she explains.

Several social media users from across the world have come out in support of this petition. They have demanded a large scale shutdown of accounts that tweet rape threats.

According to the singer, 360,000 twitter accounts were shut down for links to terrorism, and she asks why the same came can't be done for rape threats. "I want Twitter to listen to its women users. I do not want to censor free speech and disagreements which are subjective and personal. But threats of rape can be objectively tracked and should not be protected as a right to speech.”

According to Times of India, the petition will be sent to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey once it gathers 1.50 lakh signatures

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