An X account under the name "Barry Stanton" has been suspended following a barrage of complaints over deeply offensive, racist content targeting Indians. The account, notorious for its hateful posts, had amassed a significant following of 1.8 lakh before its suspension, but its vile content finally led to its suspension with many Indians expressing relief over it.
The anonymous troll, hiding behind the fake name Barry Stanton, had used X as a platform to disseminate hateful rhetoric. Among the most egregious posts were racist cartoons portraying Indians in dehumanising ways, such as defecating in public spaces, a racist troupe used widely by trolls to target Indians.
The account also endorsed posts that provided suggestions on how to drive Indians out of predominantly white neighbourhoods in the West, further fuelling the hate-filled narrative.
Stanton's posts did not stop at visual insults; they extended to verbal attacks, labelling Indians as “smelly” along with other offensive slurs that are too distasteful to be reproduced. Jews and Black people were also targeted in numerous tweets from the account.
Despite the nature of these posts, early complaints from Indian users were met with responses from X stating that the content did not violate the platform’s rules. X's community guidelines explicitly prohibit attacks based on race, ethnicity, or national origin.
Pressure on owner Elon Musk to take action grew steadily as the posts continued to spread hate unchecked. After weeks of mounting criticism, the platform finally took action, and as of a few hours ago, the account was suspended for violating X’s community standards. Users attempting to access the “barrystantonGBP” handle are now greeted with a stark “Account Suspended” notice.
Who is Barry Stanton?
Barry Stanton, according to his X bio, claimed to be a British national and father of five. However, it was widely speculated that "Barry Stanton" is not a real person, but rather a pseudonym used by an anonymous troll.
A 2017 New Statesman report pointed out the ambiguity surrounding the account’s purpose, suggesting, “Barry Stanton does not exist – or, not in the way Twitter users want to think he does. The account is a parody, created either by a liberal mocking the racists they detest or a real racist spreading their views via humour while hiding behind another person’s face.”
They also reported Barry Stanton used pictures of an elderly man on his account.
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