Delhi Police Writes To Clubhouse Over Targeting Of Muslim Women In Audio Chat Rooms

Delhi Police writes to Clubhouse, which is an audio chat application, seeking details over the alleged audio chat group that targeted Muslim women online. This action comes after the Delhi Commission for Women chairperson Swati Maliwal took cognizance of the issue and demanded details on the case from the cybercrime branch of the Delhi Police.

The audio chat group of the Clubhouse had allegedly made "obscene comments" against Muslim women. In the recent updates on the case, the police were able to identify a few members of the chatroom which included both men and women as participants and speakers. Reportedly, the participants of the conversation belonged to both communities.

The Delhi police have demanded information from Google on the Clubhouse application. Along with this, they have also asked the reasons behind such chat rooms on their playstore. One of the sources told the media publication house, "We have identified five to six suspects as of now who were part of the alleged chat room. Many among them are also based outside Delhi and other states. Suspects include both men and women and all of them are adults."

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The preliminary investigation in the case suggests that these suspects were using fake names and operating through fake accounts. The police also said that their voice was modulated to avoid leaving any digital footprint. The police are yet to trace their exact location and catch hold of them.

Recently, the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations unit of the Delhi Police, which works under Special Cell, had filed a First Information Report (FIR) against unknown people.

Delhi Police Writes To Clubhouse Over Targeting Of Muslim Women In Audio Chat Rooms

The name of the group under which the incident took place was "MUSLIM GALS ARE MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN HINDU GIRLS." The DCW, in its letter to Delhi police, stated that the participants had used vulgar and derogatory terms against Muslim women.

The clubhouse is an audio-only chat application that was first launched in March 2020 by Alpha Exploration Co, with $12 million from Andreessen Horowitz. Their community rule condemns "Anti-Blackness, Anti-Semitism and all other forms of racism, hate speech and abuse" on the app. To those who are involved in such cases and have broken the community rule, their account will be "temporarily or permanently restricted or removed from the platform." Read more about the case here.