Take urgent, strict action in Sulli Deals case: Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi tells IT Minister

Priyanka Chaturvedi (Image: File photo)

Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi on July 30 requested Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to take strict action against YouTube channel ‘Liberal Doge’ “that ran a live auction of women of a particular community”. She also sought action against an application named “Sulli Deals” where pictures of several women sourced from their social media profiles were posted without their consent.

Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi writes to IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw requesting him to take strict actions against a YouTube channel "that ran a live auction of women of a particular community" & an app that had posted pics of several women from their social media websites. pic.twitter.com/ylw398mQ1p

— ANI (@ANI) July 30, 2021

Explaining what had happened the Shiv Sena leader said: “A few months back, a YouTube channel ‘Liberal Doge’ ran a live ‘auction’ of women belonging to a particular community. People were bidding and rating women based on their physical appearance and wrote degrading comments. More recently, pictures of several women have been uploaded without their knowledge or consent on the app called ‘Sulli Deals’ that had posted pictures of several women from various professions, including journalists, sourced from their social media websites.”

In her letter to Vaishnaw, Chaturvedi informed him that “no real progress has been made so far” and said: “The lack of stringent efficient preventive laws and punishments for such cases only motivates perpetrators. It pains me to see that hardly any movement with regards to this case has been taken as of now despite the seriousness of it.”

Highlighting how cyberspace is still not safe for women, the Sena MP said: “The misuse of social and digital media to harass and attack the dignity of a woman is disheartening. In a country where women are struggling with gender bias, these incidents yet again lay bare the protection and safety of women, especially in cyberspace.”

She added: “…I request you to take urgent and strict actions to deal with such nuisance so as to protect the dignity of women of our society as any responsible government should.”