GitHub shuts down site that auctions Muslim women for online abuse


Earlier this week, GitHub took down a hate site that targeted Muslim women and put them up for sale. The website, named Sulli Deals, is a derogatory term used for Muslim women.

The site was first noticed on Sunday, but there is no information yet on who created it. The website was active for at least 20 days before being taken down on Monday and contained photos of more than 90 women.

In a statement, GitHub said its policy prohibits content targeting a community:

GitHub has long-standing policies against content and conduct involving harassment, discrimination and incitement to violence. We have suspended user accounts as a result of investigating reports of such activity, which violate all of our policies.

This is the second incident this year involving Muslim women targeted online ahead of Eid. In May, during Eid-ul-Fitr, a YouTube channel called Liberal Doge live-streamed photos of Muslim women while “rating” and “auctioning” them. As Newslaundry noted, the channel’s owner Ritesh Jha also operates other YouTube channels and Telegram groups that broadcast hateful content. There was no criminal action against Jha.

It is also worrying that this event adds numbers to other similar incidents, when Muslim women – including journalists, actors and activists – on the internet in South Asia have been repeatedly targeted.