A noted independent journalist and YouTuber Thulasi Chandu has filed a police complaint about online harassment and continuous threats by right wing forces against her.
Ms. Thulasi filed a complaint at the Rajendranagar police station reporting four YouTube channels which have made it their mission to carry out false propaganda against her, in response to her content opposing religious hate. An FIR has been registered invoking the Information Technology Act, and Section 506 of IPC pertaining to criminal intimidation.
Speaking to The Hindu, Ms.Thulasi said she had been subjected to enormous hate and vicious attacks by the four channels and hundreds of anonymous accounts, screenshots and links of which have been shared with the police for investigation.
Among the content shared with the police are threats of attack on her on the lines of the same against Bairi Naresh, another YouTuber who was attacked by right wingers in February this year.
Ms. Thulasi had filed a cyber crime complaint last year against a social media account which morphed her pictures posting derogatory content, about which nothing has been done so far despite instructions from the government.
“I fear for my life and my children. I spent a great deal of my time going through the adverse content and the responses beneath them, which are creating a fear psychosis in me. The account holders themselves may not resort to any violence, but their venomous content may influence any vulnerable teenager to carry out an attack,” she said.
Activists and civil society representatives expressed solidarity with Ms.Thulasi and condemned online attacks at a round-table meeting on Tuesday.
