Bully Bai App
Introduction
- Neeraj Bishnoi is a Vellore Institute of Technology, Bhopal, second-year B.Tech student. He has been expelled from his university. His college did not open after he was admitted owing to covid. He was studying from the comfort of his own home. The accused actions have been refuted by Neeraj’s family. Neeraj had gone to Rajasthan for a wedding, according to his relatives. On the 25th of December, he returned through Delhi. Neeraj has confessed that he set up a Twitter account to promote the app’s bullies. Following that, on December 31, a new handle was created and began tweeting.
Neeraj was always keeping an eye on the news when the situation became public. The accused mocked the Mumbai Police by tweeting shortly after their arrest. After hearing about the Bulli Bai app, a woman filed a complaint with the Cyber Police Station in South-East Delhi. She said that her photo was shared on Twitter by @bullibai_ and others. As a result, an FIR was filed.
On Thursday, police searched Neeraj Bishnoi’s home in Jorhat, Assam, and arrested him. During questioning, he admitted to creating the contentious software on GitHub. He also acknowledged establishing many Twitter handles, including @bullibai_.
According to Neeraj Bishnoi, the GitHub app was created in November 2021 and updated the following month. On December 31st, a Twitter account was launched. He also mentioned that he has set up a Twitter account, @Sage0x1, to promote the software.
History
Hundreds of Muslim women were posted by an anonymous organization Went about six months after the ‘Sully Deal,’ in which right-wing Hindu males put images of over 80 Muslim women available for sale, citing anti-Muslim bigotry and selective sexism. On Saturday, I released ‘Bulli Bai,’ GitHub-based software.
Despite two FIRs – one in Delhi and the other in Uttar Pradesh – and over a dozen complaints filed at various police stations throughout the nation, no police action was taken against the culprits in the case last time. Bulli Bai’s complaint was made by a lady who works for an internet information portal. “The title ‘Bulli bai‘ in and of itself sounds insulting, and the content of this website/portal (bullibai.github.io) is plainly designed to humiliate Muslim women because the disparaging epithet “Bulli” is used only for Muslim women,” she said in her complaint. The entire website appears to have been created with the intention of humiliating and degrading Muslim women.”
It was comparable to posting “Sulli Deals” to the “Bulli Bai” app in July of last year. The ‘Bulli Bai’ app was identical to Sulli Deals in terms of functionality. Muslim women having a prominent presence on Twitter, especially journalists have been targeted out and images of them have been posted. It was comparable to posting “Sulli Deals” to the “Bulli Bai” app in July of last year. The ‘Bulli Bai’ app was identical to Sulli Deals in terms of functionality. Muslim women having a prominent presence on Twitter, especially journalists have been targeted out and images of them have been posted.
The app “Bulli Bai” was purportedly discovered auctioning off images of Muslim women, months after anonymous individuals launched a similar app called “Sulli Deals,” where photos of hundreds of Muslim women were discovered and posted from their social media accounts. Following a widespread outcry on social media, the app was removed. Users may build and distribute apps on GitHub, an open-source platform. However, it is unclear who built the Bulli Bai app.
GitHub, as a hosting platform, allows users to develop apps under personal or administrative identities, among other things. These apps may also be shared or sold on the GitHub Marketplace. The creator of the ‘Sulli Deals app is unknown.
Controversy
During the New Year’s weekend, your Twitter feed must have been swamped with photographs of various ladies (particularly Muslim women) with the comment “Your Bulli Bai of the day is…” If you’re curious about the meaning of hashtags like #BulliBai, #BulliDeals, and #SulliDeals, we’ve got you covered. Also read – Twitter is bitten by the NFT bug, allowing NFT Profile Pictures for Twitter Blue users.
Here’s how the Bulli Bai app works and why Indian Muslim women are being auctioned off on the website.-Bulli Bai is an app created by a group of Indians (the majority of whom have yet to be identified) from all over the country to deceive people and generate money.
The app’s concept is to sell off Indian women (mainly Muslims) in order to make money.
In case you’re wondering, these are phony auctions set up by cybercriminals to deceive people into believing they’ve won the women in return for money. Fortunately, no such occurrence involving an actual auction has yet to be recorded.-In cases like Bulli Bai, cybercriminals steal images of famous ladies, celebrities, influencers, journalists, and others off the internet and use them to make money.
These online con artists grab these women’s images from their social media accounts and post them on the site. As a result, it is now (sadly) obligatory for women to always lock or make their profile private.-Shortly after some insulting tweets from the Bulli Bai app were disseminated on Twitter; the authorities asked the social media company to delete them immediately.
In the Bulli Bai app case, two students, one from Mumbai and the other from Bengaluru, have been arrested. In addition, a lady from Uttarakhand was nabbed in the case earlier today. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time something similar has happened. Sulli Deals, a similar occurrence that occurred last year, caused quite a stir on the internet. Photos of Indian Muslim women were also auctioned out during the Sulli Deals affair.
The Bulli Bai app scandal has taken a political turn, but there is much more to it than that. Such cases demonstrate how vulnerable women, regardless of faith, are on the internet nowadays.
Why Particular Religion Women Get Targeted?
On January 4, 2022, the Women in Criminal Law Association (WCLA) sharply criticized the ‘Bulli Bai’ app’s targeted harassment of Indian Muslim women, including journalists, researchers, and social workers, as well as the authorities’ “inaction.”
“We stand in solidarity with the Indian Muslim women whose images and information was broadcast on ‘Bulli Bai’ without their knowledge or agreement, and we unequivocally reject this effort to sexualize, dehumanize, and harass Muslim women,” the WCLA said. This is a sexist, targeted hate campaign against Muslim women that is unlawful under Indian law.” The names ‘Sulli’ and ‘Bulli’ are disparaging insults meant to specifically degrade and demean Muslim women, and they are hate speech,” the statement stated. Women’s fundamental rights to dignity, privacy, and physical autonomy are also violated when they are ‘auctioned’ on the internet.”
Three persons have been detained in connection with the case by Mumbai police. The unnamed app’s creators and the Twitter accounts that promoted it have also been charged by the Mumbai cyber police station.
The WCLA has voiced concerns over the police’s lack of action and openness in the issue, calling the app an “effort to stifle the political engagement of Indian Muslim women.”
They have requested that the producers of “Sulli Deals” and “Bulli Bai” be prosecuted immediately and that GitHub devote more resources to reviewing all of its WebPages for Islam phobic and sexist content and removing it as soon as possible.
“The accused must be prosecuted under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, including but not limited to sections 153A (Promoting enmity on grounds of religion, etc), 153B (Imputations prejudicial to national-integration), 354A and 509 for sexual harassment, as well as sections 66 and 67 of the IT Act and provisions against trafficking and slavery,” they demanded. The Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) has also slammed the app, calling the “auction” “malicious, mischievous, and repulsive.”
According to a DHCBA resolution, the lawyers’ body has unanimously resolved to write to the Delhi police commissioner, demanding the registration of a first information report and an efficient and expeditious investigation so that those found guilty of the “dastardly crime” are punished according to the law. It goes on to say that the software not only amounts to the conduct of serious criminal offenses but also targets and denigrates women.
The full statement from the WCLA may be seen here. WCLA Statement of Solidarity with Muslim Women in Bulli Bai.
The Women in Criminal Law Association (WCLA) strongly opposes the “Bulli Bai” webpage’s targeted Islam phobic harassment of Indian Muslim women, as well as concerned authorities’ inactivity.
Hundreds of Indian Muslim women emerged in images and on Twitter on January 1, 2022.” Auction” on a public page named “Bulli Bai” without their knowledge or approval. (bullibai.github.io, now removed) was hosted on GitHub in a clear attempt to abuse Indian Muslim women. This follows the “Sulli Deals,” which were also posted on GitHub in July 2021 and involved Indian Muslim women being “auctioned” without their knowledge or consent, and inactivity since then has encouraged the accused and permitted further atrocities against Muslim women. Both events included anonymous Twitter accounts and individuals hiding behind the GitHub platform harassing, disrespecting, and threatening Indian Muslim women.
Many of the women targeted on Bulli Bai are well-known public figures, such as journalists, researchers, social workers, and others, in an attempt to quiet Indian Muslim women’s political activity. We stand in solidarity with the Indian Muslim women whose images and information have been circulated on the internet have been posted on Bulli Bai without their permission or knowledge, and we unequivocally reject this effort to sexualize, dehumanize, and harass Muslim women. This is a sexist, targeted hate campaign against Muslim women that is unlawful under Indian law.
The names “Sulli” and “Bulli” are disparaging insults that are used to humiliate and demean Muslim women, and they are considered hate speech. Women’s fundamental rights to dignity, privacy, and physical autonomy are also violated when they are “auctioned” over the internet. Despite the fact that police in Uttar Pradesh and New Delhi has filed two FIRs, no concrete action has been taken against the perpetrators in either FIR, and the police have provided no transparent information on the identities of the “Sulli Deals” creators or whether any investigation has been conducted. As of yet, no arrests have been made in connection with the Sulli Deals, allowing the accused to act with impunity.
- GitHub has acknowledged banning the account that hosted Bulli Bai as of January 2nd, 2022. GitHub, which is owned by Microsoft, is one of the world’s largest and most popular platforms for developers to collaborate and share code. A person has also been arrested in connection with the case by Mumbai police.
- The Women in Criminal Law Association demands the following in wrath, anguish, and solidarity with Muslim women whose information and images were exploited to “sell” them to males on the internet on the Sulli Deals and Bulli Bai webpages:
- We demand that the Delhi and Uttar Pradesh police take prompt and urgent action against the Sulli Deals developers in the FIRs filed in New Delhi and Uttar Pradesh on the basis of complaints submitted by women whose images were uploaded on Sulli Deals.
- We demand that GitHub devote urgent efforts to verifying that anybody who forked the code and/or liked/starred the Sulli Deals and/or Bulli Bai repositories does not have any other projects that include comparable hate speech, sexism, violence, or otherwise objectionable material.
- We demand that GitHub devote more resources to scanning all upcoming GitHub webpages for Islamophobic and misogynistic content, as well as similar “auctions” of Indian Muslim women, to ensure that such web pages are taken down quickly in the future and that their creators are not immune from repercussions from GitHub.
- We demand that GitHub fully cooperate with Indian law enforcement officials and aid them in their investigation by supplying them with all details and information accessible on GitHub on the people who created and used the “Sulli Deals” and “Bulli Bai” webpages.
- The accused must be prosecuted under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, including but not limited to sections 153A (Promoting enmity on grounds of religion, etc. ), 153B (Imputations prejudicial to national integration), 354A, and 509 for sexual harassment, as well as sections 66 and 67 of the Information Technology Act and provisions against trafficking and slavery.
- We support all of the women who have been targeted. We put their well-being and decisions about how to proceed with additional action first, and we emphasize the need of putting their narratives, experiences, and safety first when they speak up. We express our unequivocal support for them.
Punishment
When FIRs were filed against the Sulli Deals app last year that is in 2021, the Delhi Police requested MLAT permission. They got clearance from the Union Government earlier this week, and they’re looking for information on the Bulli Bai app’s developer on GitHub. Twitter has also been instructed to restrict and delete inappropriate information relating to the incident.
There has been an alarming spike in the number of women being harassed online. While most of this online “locker room banter” is dismissed as guys being men, it has the potential to develop in real-world violence against women. Regrettably, law enforcement is doing virtually little to combat the epidemic of cybercrime.
“Despite the implementation of the IT Act and the IT guidelines, the prosecution rates for cyber crimes have remained low,” Venkatesh says. One may point to a lack of resources for law enforcement, as well as a lack of people and technological competence, as well as a lack of financial resources committed to combating cybercrime. Thousands of complaints on child sexual abuse material have been filed with the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), however, the conversion of these complaints into FIRs has been poor.”
Online gender-based violence is equally as devastating as offline gender-based violence, and it is entrenched in societal gender inequalities. If left unchecked, ongoing online abuse like this will have a chilling effect and lead to self-censorship among women, as well as long-term mental health implications.
Cyberviolence particularly that with sexual overtones like the Bulli Bai app is a symptom of a larger problem: a society that denies women the right to equal participation in political, social, and cultural life; a society that is misogynistic and Islam phobic.
The targeting of loud women, many of whom are members of a minority group, is an explicit expression of authority in this situation. This power imbalance must be addressed by public awareness campaigns, complaint and protection systems, as well as harsh penalties that will prevent future bad behavior.
How It Can Be Downloaded?
After receiving complaints about its offensive material, the Github hosting site has stopped the controversial software Bulli Bai. Vishal Kumar Jha and Shweta Singh, the owners of the Bulli Bai app, have been detained by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) and the Police Authority. It included insulting information as well as images of Muslim women, including journalists, social activists, students, and celebrities. Bully Bai Contro is a controversy in which photographs of Muslim women were simultaneously published on Github’s Bulli Bai App. In fact, the sale included all of the uploaded photographs. Meanwhile, their official Twitter account has been deactivated or suspended. Vishan Kumar, the accused, has been detained until January 10. Before putting him into jail, the police had filed an FIR. Following that, GitHub verified that the Bulli Bai has been successfully banned.
GitHub verified that the user has been blocked. Further activity is being coordinated by CERT and police authorities.
On Saturday, January 1st, 2022, the Buli Bai app was released. Bulli Bai’s complaint was submitted by a lady who works for an internet news platform. ‘Bulli bai’ is a pejorative nickname, she claims in her case. This website’s material is intended to offend Muslim women. The term ‘bully’ is used to describe Muslim women in particular. They further claim that this software is designed to humiliate and disrespect Muslim women. Priyanka Chaturvedi, a Shiv Sena MP, ordered Mumbai Police and Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnav on Saturday to apprehend the perpetrators and ban the ‘Bully Bye’ app.
In a tweet, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnav announced that the Bulli BAI account has been blocked by GitHub. Further action is being taken by CERT and police officers. The primary organization for cyber security concerns in India is the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT). The IT Minister said that the Bulli Bai app has been disabled by the GitHub hosting platform after images of at least 100 Muslim women were submitted for auction on the app. Further action is being taken by CERT and police officers. Using the ‘Bulli Bai’ app to post images of Muslim ladies was akin to posting the same Sulli bargains. Bulli Bui App works in the same way as Same Sully Deals did. When the Bulli Bai app was launched, a Muslim woman’s visage appeared as Bulli Bai.
The ‘Sully Deals’ app, like ‘Bully Bye,’ was hosted on GitHub. Sulli Deal was the subject of two FIRs filed by Delhi and Uttar Pradesh police last year, but no action has been taken against the perpetrators.
Government Action On This App
The infamous Bulli Bai app featured doctored images of powerful Muslim women with the insulting phrase “Sulli bargain of the day.” It should be mentioned that the name ‘Sulli’ is a pejorative slur for women. The app’s authors would use photographs stolen unlawfully from the women’s social media accounts to persuade people to participate in the “auction.”The Information and Technology Ministry has taken immediate action against the Bulli Bai app’s authors after becoming aware of the situation, and the Delhi Police has filed an FIR in this regard.
According to sources, Delhi Police had opened an investigation when a woman journalist submitted a complaint stating that she was being harassed by an anonymous group of individuals using a Smartphone app called ‘Bulli Bai,’ which was developed on the GitHub platform.
According to Delhi Police, an FIR has been filed under section 509 at the Cyber Police Station in the South-East district. This happened six months after the Delhi Police filed a complaint in connection with Muslim women’s images being shared and “auctioned” on a Github app. Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw took to Twitter to say that action had been taken and that the GitHub user behind the “Bulli Bai” app had been blocked, with “more action” being planned.
“This morning, GitHub confirmed that the user has been blocked. Further action is being coordinated by the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) and police authorities “In response to a tweet by Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, Vaishnaw added. The Bulli Bai app is being prosecuted.
According to Delhi Police, a lady filed a complaint at the Cyber police station on Sunday, alleging that her photo was posted on a website to target her. The complainant claimed she wanted an FIR filed right away and a probe started right away against unknown persons who are harassing and insulting Muslim women on social media and the internet.
The complaint has been taken into consideration, and responsible officials have been ordered to take suitable action, according to the police. The lady told police she was astonished to see that a website/portal “had a doctored image of me in an unsuitable, unacceptable, and blatantly sexual setting,” according to her complaint.
“Misogynist parts of society cannot use social media, which is a form of public speech, to denigrate and derogate women in general and Muslim women in particular.”This is nothing short of online harassment, and the tweet in question is criminally culpable in and of itself “she said” The ‘Github’ hosting platform is aggressive, menacing, and designed to instill fear and humiliation in the psyche of women in general, as well as the Muslim community whose ladies are being targeted in this heinous manner. In reality, other Muslim women have been targeted by this website “According to the complaint, the Bulli Bai app has sparked outrage.
The crime has been denounced by opposition politicians, who have urged the government and Delhi Police to take harsh action. “It is intolerable that this deadly anti-Muslim misogyny plot has resurfaced.”The awful indictment of the state of affairs is that not only was nothing done the past time, but these forces also felt empowered to repeat the whole event since the establishment backs them,” tweeted Congress MP Karti Chidambaram.
“Disgusting. Authorities’ inaction has emboldened these perpetrators. Please investigate and take stern action, Ashwini Vaishnaw, National Commission for Women, and Delhi Police,” AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi stated.
“In wrath and sympathy with Ismat Araa, Samreen, and other Muslim women being exposed to horrible internet “auctions” by rape-minded Sanghi filth,” declared Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Kavita Krishnan. The terrorists have resurfaced as #bullibai as a result of deliberate police delay on #sullideals.”
Top 13 Interesting Facts About Bulli Bai App
According to US students, the most prevalent kind of online abuse is comments (22.5 percent).
Sixty-four percent of victims who get an abusive instant message say they recognize the sender from previous encounters.
Unwanted forwarding of private correspondence was reported by nearly one-fifth (15%) of internet teenagers.
The majority of bullied teenagers (61%) said it was because of their appearance.
Bullies sometimes target those who have impairments or mental problems.
Cyberbullying is on the rise, according to recent studies.
Online harassment has been reported by 53% of adults in the United States who use the internet.
Sixty-six percent of online harassment victims said they were harassed on Facebook.
Cyberbullying is more common in girls than in boys, and girls are more likely to be both victims and offenders.
Cyberbullying affects seven out of ten young people before they reach the age of eighteen.
Around 37% of youngsters aged 12 to 17 have been the victim of cyberbullying at least once.
According to a survey of 20,000 students, 70% indicated that someone propagated falsehoods about them online.
At least once, moreover, one in ten students (12%) acknowledged cyberbullying someone else.
Some FAQs Or Also Ask Question
What does the Bulli Bai app do?
‘Bulli Bai’ is an application that is hosted on GitHub API and operates similar to the ‘Sulli Deals’ app. The app blatantly offers Muslim women as a ‘deal’ for people on social media.
What is the Bully Bai controversy?
Bulli Bai is an app developed by a group of Indians (most of them yet to be identified) from across the country to trick people and make financial gains. -The idea behind the app is to put Indian women (mostly Muslims) up for auction and earn money in return.
Where can I download the Bulli Bai app?
Bully Bai App download link banned by GitHub.
What is bully Bai?
‘Bulli Bai’ is an application that is hosted on GitHub API and operates similar to the ‘Sulli Deals’ app. The app blatantly offers Muslim women as a ‘deal’ for people on social media.
Vidushi Rastogi
Writer
13angle
