The Internet Freedom Foundation and Editors Guild of India have spoken up against online harassment of women in connection with the Bulli Bai incident. While IFF requested the Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT to investigate the matter, the Editors Guild of India urged the Supreme Court to order a probe into both, the Bulli Bai and Tek Fog apps. In a letter to Shashi Tharoor, the chairperson of the Standing Committee, IFF said that creators of the Bulli Bai app violated the privacy of the women who were targeted, by sourcing their personal photos from their social media accounts. "This has affected the personal safety and security of those targeted thus violating their constitutional Right to Life, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution and has undermined their Right to Privacy." — Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) The Bulli Bai app incident is not the first time that Muslim women were auctioned online. Another app called ‘Sulli Deals’ had similarly listed Muslim women for auction back in July. Incident exposes lack of proactiveness of social media and tech platforms: IFF "Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 assures "punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form". However, the delay in the immediate removal of such defamatory material defeats the purpose of the Act." — IFF While requesting a more robust and effective system to safeguard women's online security, IFF recommended that the Standing Committee take the following actions — Invite the victims of these apps to testify. Ask…
